Waiting for the End
by AliceBB
Summary: Alice and Rain are the only two who made it out of The Hive and together they find themselves in a virus plagued landscape devoid of anything but undead. Will the growing bond between them give them the hope and strength they need to survive? Alice/Rain
1. Better Off

A/N: when I finished my third Criminal Minds story I really had no intention of writing any more fanfic. Then a Saturday night hockey game came along and, being the fool I am, I bet on the Leafs. Hardly a surprise when the Leafs lost. To honour that debt, a story in a genre I love but have never written was requested of me. This is my take on the RE universe with a femslash slant and has an alternate ending to the first movie and moves on from there. This is for my friend, and Red Wings fan, rain1657.

**Waiting for the End**

**Chapter 1: Better Off **

"I don't want to be one of those things walking around without a soul." Even to her own ears her voice sounds weak, strained.

The conviction and simple need is not lost on Alice. Rain can see her gulp before she answers with a tortured, "You won't."

It's not enough; Rain has to know, has to believe she won't let it happen. "When the time comes, you'll take care of it," she doesn't want it to be a question; wants it to be a statement of fact but she can't help the slight inflection of a question that creeps into her voice.

Alice's blue eyes show true pain before she steels herself. "Hey, no one else is gonna die down here, OK?"

For a long time the gentle touch on her chin is all Rain can feel. It almost becomes the last thing she feels yet that seems so fitting, so natural even. Just her and Alice at the end…

The mood is broken when Rain takes a sharp breath in and looks up at Alice.

"I'm not dead yet." When she opens her eyes she sees the woman in front of her is holding a pistol – her Colt – cocked and ready, aimed right between her eyes and Rain can't help feel a jab of annoyance. "I think I'll have that back." When their fingers touch as she takes the weapon, Rain feels her irritation dissipate.

Alice's face breaks into a wide, shit-eating grin.

"I could kiss you, you bitch!" Alice says and Rain spares a thought that she has never heard anyone say such a sexy thing to her - ever. Despite the pain, the virus, she wonders if her face will betray her and communicate to Alice just how much she would like that to happen.

"Let's save that for later and get outta here first," Rain replies pushing her usual bravado ahead of anything else, "OK?"

Alice's eyes seem to twinkle with amusement and something else in the half light of the moving train. Rain has no time to reflect on this as the car is rocked and she falls to her side the Colt slipping from her hand.

The sound of screeching metal and cries of terror fill her ears …

The voice is her own; the cry hers.

All around her is dark, confined and smelling slightly of gasoline and more of sweat. There is a drumming sound like water on metal that is audible over her harsh breathing. Her hand goes to her chest, fingers sliding in the moisture between her breasts. She closes her hand into a fist and her throat tightens into a sob.

"Rain, Rain, I'm here, right here," the gentle concerned voice is close in the dark.

Rain feels a hand on her bare shoulder, shrugs to throw it off. The hand is persistent, the fingers moving in a caress that goes from her shoulder across her back as Alice moves closer.

Rain hears a click and a dull light pushes at the gloom inside the truck. Her breathing slows as her memory returns. No monster here, no apparent, imminent danger just the same hopelessness as every day since they escaped The Hive, the mansion and the long grasp of Umbrella.

A rustle of sleeping bag and Alice extends her arms around Rain, pulling her closer. Rain doesn't resist this time, lets Alice draw her in, her head against Alice's chest, tucked under Alice's chin. In the light of the little battery powered lantern, Rain watches Alice's long fingers move along her arm. Closing her eyes she lets the touch calm her, feels her heart slow and begin to match rhythm with the strong beat she can feel against her cheek.

"Another nightmare?"

Rain doesn't answer; she's beginning to feel normal again as the dream fades and normal means 'not weak'. She wants to pull away from Alice, hide her face and the weakness she's sure is showing, but her body won't let her. There's too much comfort here.

"I've got you, you know." Alice smoothes Rain's hair away from her face her touch lingering, and to Rain, somewhat suggestive.

Rain pushes away suddenly turning from Alice and drawing her knees to her chest her sleeping bag unzipped and loose around her. "I'm alright."

From the corner of her eye Rain can see Alice extend her hand, then as if changing her mind draw it back slowly.

Raindrops are beating on the roof of the truck almost loud enough to drown out Alice's sigh.

"Why don't you… I wish you'd…" Alice says softly and the word 'stay' remains unspoken.

Rain looks up at the roof above her before letting her head drop to her knees. She wants to say something, to try to explain how she feels, but it seems so hard to give voice to the hopelessness inside her.

Alice reaches out again and brushes Rain's arm. "It's going to be alright, Rain," she says. "Really, it'll be OK."

Rain huffs, "You really think so?" Her voice is stronger, deeper, more like her usual gruff self. "There's nothing we can do to stop the virus spreading," she turns to look at Alice. "It's been three weeks and we haven't found anyone uninfected," her tone on the last word is cold.

Alice shifts in the tight space they had been sleeping in and Rain finds herself torn between wanting the other woman's arms around her again and the need to move even farther away. It has been like this for her for a while now and stronger since they found the military Humvee and began sleeping next to each other in the back.

When she's awake, before the nightmares come, Rain lays still listening to Alice breathe and wishing she could let her guard down, let Alice see the other side of her. The side she has always kept stifled. The side she feels has no place in the dead, hopeless state the world has become. Yet Alice's gentle concern has been wearing her down.

"I was raised to believe in God," Rain says after several silent minutes. "I need to believe God has a plan, but I can't accept that _this_," Rain's voice rises and grows cold again, "_this mess_ is it, you know."

Alice sighs again. "I know."

"Atheist," Rain says softly as if it's an insult but Alice hears the humour in her voice.

"Why do I find it hilarious thinking of you showing up at my front door asking me if I've accepted Jesus as my savior and would I like to buy a bible," Alice smiles and the tension goes out of the two of them.

"With a Glock stuck in the back of my Sunday dress."

Alice laughs outright at the word 'dress'. "I know for a fact you've never worn a dress in your life!" Crossing her legs, Alice sits facing Rain watching as the younger woman turns her head so their eyes meet.

There is amusement in Rain's eyes as she replies, "True story."

The two women stare at each other for a long moment until Rain's eyes grow troubled again. Stretching her legs out, she lies back turning on her side away from Alice.

Alice waits a bit before flicking off the light and laying down beside Rain. Carefully she moves close pulling the two open sleeping bags over both of their bodies. Alice holds her breath expecting Rain to shift away from her. Rain just sighs.

"Maybe I would've been better off," Rain says softly into the dark, "if I had stayed at home and just got married and had kids like my mother wanted me to. Maybe none of this would've happened and we all would be better off."

"Not your fault," Alice lays her hand softly, carefully on Rain's hip. "No one's fault but those fuckers Umbrella and we'd all be better off if the lot of them had never been born."


	2. Loser Like Me

Chapter 2: Loser Like Me

Rain woke to the smell of coffee. Rolling on her back she looked up at the roof of the Humvee and listened to Alice's slight movements as she fiddled with the radio and drank instant coffee from an insulated mug.

This had been the morning routine for some time now. Rain couldn't remember how long exactly.

Finding a T-shirt to pull on over her undershirt, and grabbing her rifle and pistol belt, Rain exited the vehicle through the side door and walked a few paces away to relieve herself. Once finished, she climbed in the front passenger side, shut the door and looked at Alice.

"Anything?"

Alice didn't look at the woman beside her. "Dribs and drabs," she answered cryptically handing the coffee mug to Rain. The coffee was sweet with sugar and the powdered creamer that Alice favoured. Rain preferred the simplicity of black coffee but never bothered to argue.

Alice yanked the earphone cable from the jack and turned down the volume of the scanner. Rain watched it cycle through frequencies several times before losing interest.

"The numbers?" Rain drew a granola bar from a bag at her feet, offered another to Alice.

Alice shot a glance at Rain. "Number Stations are myth, Rain," she said taking a big bite of the bar.

"Too bad I don't have Wikipedia to prove you wrong."

Alice didn't engage just flipped the map she had been looking at from her lap to the dash. They had both heard the numbers a couple times. The first time, Rain had copied them down and spent the rest of the day with a pad of paper and a pencil trying every bit of math she could think of to the eight digits.

Rain grabbed the map and shook it. As she ate a second chewy bar, a place name at the very edge on the right caught her attention. Refolding the map, Rain put her thumb on the place name and held it up to Alice.

"We should go there."

"Why?" Alice barely spared a second to glance at the map.

"My family lives there," Rain looked away out the side window at the clouds and the puddles leftover from last night.

"The chances of…" Alice was trying to catch Rain's gaze.

"I know."

"I guess it's as good a place as any." Alice started the Humvee.

Later

They had been driving for several hours when Rain spotted several military vehicles next to a fire damaged gas station. Two were severely damaged, but the last one, another Humvee seemed relatively intact. Alice pulled up beside it.

"I'll check for fuel, you see if there's anything we can use."

Rain slung her rifle and walked slowly around the other Humvee while Alice retrieved the tube she used for siphoning gas and an empty canister. There was an empty mount on the top of the vehicle where an M240 machine gun like the one on theirs would go.

Ignoring the body in the driver's seat, Rain opened the back and began pulling out gear looking for ammunition boxes. The first usable item she came across made her smile. "Sweet," she said to herself opening the box of M67 grenades. There were about twenty left in the box that she scooped up and took back to their Humvee.

Returning to the damaged vehicle, she climbed in the back and located two ammo boxes near the front under the empty ringmount.

Alice had filled one gas can and was working on another when Rain returned for the second time. Finished with the back, she went to the driver's side and stared at the body her nose wrinkling at the stench. Rain couldn't tell if it had been infected and died or died before being infected. It hardly mattered as dead was dead, or at least, usually was.

Opening the door allowed the body to tumble out and Rain gave it a sharp kick. No response. Leaning down, she took the Berretta 92 and spare magazines the dead soldier had carried.

After tossing the pilfered weapon in the front seat of their Humvee, Rain returned to watch Alice siphon fuel. Leaning casually against the back of the vehicle, Rain cradled her rifle in her arms and stared at the gas station. There were several more buildings behind the service station where undead could possibly lurk.

Rain glanced down at Alice then back to the station. Squinting she looked harder at what appeared to be a face behind one of the smoke stained glass panels of the bay doors. The face was still for a moment before mutating into a snarl.

"We got company!" Rain pushed off of the Humvee and snapped her rifle to her shoulder.

"Think you can take care of that, please," Alice said in a pleasant, unhurried voice. "I'm a little busy here."

"I'm on it!" Rain said curtly, moving forward with her rifle held at the ready.

The face was gone from the window presumably as the undead tried to find an exit to get out and get at Rain and Alice. Rain left lots of space between herself and the building as she approached slowly trying to keep as many of the possible exits in view.

There was a thump behind her and she turned distracted by Alice hauling one the full gas cans up to the roof rack. Turning back, Rain was confronted by three undead lurching from the right side of the building. Walking slowly forward, she fired on the first, taking it square between the eyes.

Levering the Winchester .45, Rain aimed at the second. "Rinse and repeat," she whispered to herself taking down the second then the third. Cautiously, step over step, she approached the side of the building moving in an arc to leave as much space as possible between it and herself.

At the back of the service station was a yellow school bus, one of the front tires totally flat. Turning away, Rain failed to see the movement inside it.

Alice was roping the last gas can in place on top of their Humvee when Rain returned her rifle resting on her shoulder and smug expression on her face.

"Good huntin' there, pilgrim?" Alice drawled.

"Fuck John Wayne!" Rain snorted reaching to close the back of the Humvee.

"Yeah, well, he never left any bad guys standing," with a quick hop Alice was on the ground beside Rain her eyes on the side of the service station where a group of undead had appeared.

"What?" Rain turned raising her rifle again.

"Save the ammo," Alice pushed the rifle barrel aside. "Let's just go."

Rain snorted again her eyes going from Alice to the group of undead who were steadily approaching. Two at the front of the pack appeared to be wearing tattered cheerleader uniforms. "Start it up," she ordered Alice, "I'll be right there."

Slinging her rifle, Rain reached for the box of grenades and took two. Yanking the pin and taking two quick steps she lobbed the first at the mass of undead. It hit the ground and bounced amid the shuffling feet.

"Fucking dud!" Rain lobbed the second. This one landed in the middle of the crowd and exploded spraying dirt and body parts in a wide swath. Rain ducked as a sneaker clad foot landed next to her.

"What the hell was that?" Alice shouted her eyes wide.

Rain slammed the door. "I found some new toys."

Alice hit the gas just as a few of the undead survivors of the grenade blast reached the back of the Humvee. Rain watched in the side mirror as the closest, one of the cheerleaders, was sprayed with mud from the retreating Humvee. "Cheerleaders can kiss my ass."

Alice looked at Rain as they gained the main road rubber squealing on pavement.

"Why do I have the feeling your high school days were a ball of laughs?"

Rain just smirked.

Later

"They used to call me a loser, you know."

"Who?" Alice wasn't really in on this conversation most of it having gone on in Rain's head it would seem.

"The cheerleaders and the jock guys," Rain was looking out the side window. "And, before you say it, let me ask: Were you a loser like me or a pretty cheerleader?" Rain made a Rah Rah motion with her hands as if holding pompoms and stared at Alice challenging her to respond.

"I was the weird one, I guess," Alice looked at Rain then back at the road. "I was into drama club, karate and chasing girls." Alice smirked at Rain her own challenge evident.

"And how'd that work out for you?" Rain drawled in response.

"Very well, actually. I got the lead in the play, a black belt at seventeen and fucked almost all the cheerleaders." Alice pushed a length of dark blond hair behind her ear, glanced at the woman beside her.

Rain was quiet for several minutes.

"Guns and guitars," Rain finally offered. "I was into guns and guitars."

"Ah," Alice drummed the steering wheel a couple of beats. "The school shooting Marilyn Manson type, I presume?"

Rain settled her best glare on Alice's profile.

"No, I was a really good shot, like winning shooting tournaments good. I worked at the range teaching shooting. And I played in a metal band."

"Total loser," Alice worked to keep a straight face, "and no cheerleaders."

Rain just snorted.

Later

Rain was eating Spaghetti-Os from a can sitting on the tailgate of the Humvee and swinging one booted foot back and forth. Every once in a while she would let her toe contact Alice's boot and quickly pretend it hadn't happened.

Alice was becoming irritated. Rain had turned down the offer of dehydrated chicken curry in favour of the canned junk, as Alice thought of it, even going so far as to literally turn up her nose at the meal package.

"Neanderthal," Alice mumbled as Rain accidently kicked her for the third or fourth time.

"Drama bitch," Rain sucked on her spoon staring up at the rafters of the big barn they were parked in.

Alice let it go enjoying the easy banter and the lightness of the mood it created. Digging around with her fork at the bottom of the package, she held out the last of the chicken and rice to Rain.

"Sure you won't try some?"

"Fuck off," Rain said without any real malice and hopped off the tailgate. Rearing back, she threw her empty can through a high, broken window.

"Arm like that and you never played any sports?" Licking her fork clean Alice watched Rain closely though she was trying not to appear to be doing so.

"Not a team player," Rain replied as if quoting someone else, her back still to Alice. "Besides, I got enough sports with my brothers."

"Tell me about your family."

Rain looked over her shoulder and glared at Alice. Turning back around, she pulled her Colt from its holster on left hip and checked the magazine.

"Ok, then," Alice tried another tack. "How many brothers and sisters?"

"Three brothers, no sisters."

_That explains a lot_, Alice thought to herself. "Ages?"

"One older, and two younger." Rain had re-holstered the handgun and was kicking at very dry lumps of horse manure mixed in with the straw on the barn floor.

"Mother and father?"

"Yes."

Chuckling Alice hopped off the tailgate. With a quick move she stabbed at Rain's ribs with her fork. "You think I'm the kinda girl you should take home for your parents to meet?" Alice asked dancing backward as Rain blocked the stab easily.

"I wouldn't know," Rain kicked a lump of horse shit at Alice. "I never took anyone home, _girls_ or boys," she put strong emphasis on the word girls as if to provoke Alice.

Alice said nothing just kicked the lump back at Rain waiting to see if this conversation was going somewhere specific.

"Did they even know you were gay, your parents?" Rain asked eventually.

_Ah, it was…_

"My parents died when I was young, so no, they didn't know. And all the kids in school would never believe the rumours," Alice had Rain's complete attention now. "They all thought I was too," Alice hesitated searching for the right word finally came up with "blond," which she said with a smirk.

"Right, figures," Rain grunted.

Closing the distance between them, Alice caught Rain's chin and stared full into her eyes. "I got all the fun and none of the flack the hot, boy-girls like you got," she leaned in to give Rain a quick kiss on the lips.

"Fuck you," Rain said to Alice's retreating back.


	3. Don't You Wanna Stay

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading this and especially to those who have reviewed. My plan so far is to have a fairly short flashback sort of chapter followed by a longer 'action' chapter – the next couple chapters will stick to that. Thanks for reading!

**Chapter 3: Don't You Wanna Stay**

Matt is half dragging Rain up the concrete steps as the digital clock ticks off the last seconds. Ahead of them, Alice pauses and turns watching as the heavy blast doors close sealing off the train station and that access point to The Hive.

Behind them is death and something worse - a soulless life of agony. Rain knows she has made it this far with her soul intact. She knows that of body, heart, mind and soul it is the last one, the least tangible of them all, that matters the most to her. _Take my body, take my mind but my heart won't let you take my soul. I will fight_, she tells herself_. I will fight against this to my last_. Within her a small, niggling part of her hopes that is true.

Hefting the big silver case with the virus and antivirus that Spence had last been in possession of, Alice leads the way through the looking glass door and out into the mansion.

They pass through the elegant dining room Rain trying hard to walk on her own. Alice leads them out into the foyer where Rain bends over her hands on her knees breathing hard and staring without seeing the black and white tiles below her. If she could just catch her breath; just for once if the pain would recede. Rain pants, her eyes closed, wondering if she has beaten the virus or if it has still managed to beat her.

Matt grunts, clutching at his clawed arm. When Rain looks up, he is pushing Alice away hard. Alice hits a side table knocking over a vase. She just stares at Matt perplexed.

"Hey, man!" With effort Rain straightens up, her hand going to the Colt at the small of her back.

"He's mutating!" Alice tries to approach him again, is again shoved back.

Matt rears back roaring in pain as his skin ripples and undulates. "Help me, Alice!"

Alice begins to fumble with the silver case containing the virus and antivirus. "Hold on, Matt!"

Rain draws her pistol, aims at Matt her hand shaking slightly. "It's too late!" she directs this comment at Alice.

"Help me, please!" Matt implores as he lashes out knocking aside Alice and the silver case. His eyes meet Rain's and she sees him mouth two words just before she pulls the trigger.

Rain sits up suddenly in the dark of the truck. Beside her she hears and feels Alice shift. Before the other woman can ask, Rain lays down again her back to Alice. "I'm alright."

"I know," Alice moves again and Rain hears a rustle and a gulping sound as Alice drinks from her water bottle. When Alice settles back she moves close to Rain, close enough that Rain can feel the warmth of her body. After a moment she feels Alice's hand on her hip, feels the hand begin to move along her waist.

"I'm sorry about Matt," Rain says and Alice's hand stills.

"I know," Alice says and sighs.

"I never told you… right before… he said…"

"It doesn't matter, Rain."

Rain turns onto her back, tries to find Alice's eyes in the dark. "It does, Alice. He wanted me too. He knew he didn't want to live like that. He told me to."

Alice doesn't reply so after a moment Rain shifts onto her side again. Alice is still close and warm behind her.

"It doesn't matter Rain," Alice eventually repeats her earlier words. "We're alive and he's not."

"And this is a good thing how?"

"Living is always a good thing." Alice's hand is at Rain's waist again moving softly under her shirt. "You need to believe that."

Alice feels Rain give one of her snorts. "Believing doesn't equal doing."

"I don't recall that verse in the Bible," Alice tickles Rain lightly on her belly.

"Really New Testament," Rain replies. "Book of Rain, chapter two, verse one."

Behind her, Rain feels and hears Alice chuckle.

"Ah, is that what you're gonna come into my house and preach to me?"

Rain shifts slightly not sure if she is uncomfortable or aroused by Alice's warm, strong hand on her.

"Not my thing," Rain replies. "I'm more of a live and let live kinda girl, know what I'm sayin'?"

Alice sighs and Rain can feel the exhaled breath against her ear. "That's good, I guess," Alice whispers. "Religion was never my thing; never had a place in my life. Sometimes though, I think I envy other people their faith."

Rain lays still thinking this over. For a moment she considers explaining to Alice her faith in a higher power, but this has been severely shaken the last few weeks and would hardly ring true to the perceptive Alice. The night before she had told Alice how she was taught to believe and still wants to believe. What is the use of rehashing all that when Alice doesn't care?

"It's hard," is all Rain manages to come up with.

"I know, Rain. I know you've had many times you when you didn't want to go on because it seems so hopeless."

Rain grunts in protest. She has thought many times about putting her gun to her head and making it all go away yet the worst part would be the giving up. "I don't believe in suicide. I'm not going down that way. I don't want to just walk away."

"Then don't," Alice finds Rain's hand, interlaces their fingers and presses their two hands clutched together to Rain's chest. "Please stay, Rain. Stay here a little while longer with me."

There's a long pause and Alice seems almost asleep.

"I need you here with me; falling asleep with me at night. I need you, Rain."

Alice flexes her body and draws the younger, smaller woman tight to her. Rain feels Alice's mouth, her soft kiss along her neck and jaw. Rain wonders if this will be the beginning; the beginning of their lives together or the end of the relationship because for a moment she doesn't know what she will do.

"I want you," Alice mumbles sleepily and Rain is spared the decision as Alice's breathing slows and she succumbs to sleep.

Rain continues to hold her hand.


	4. Coming Home

**Chapter 4: Coming Home**

When Rain woke in the morning Alice was still beside her. Shifting onto her side and propping herself on her elbow, she looked down at the woman sleeping peacefully flat on her back next to her.

Alice's right hand was resting on her chest, fingers splayed and relaxed. Her breathing was slow, her lips parted slightly. Rain found herself thinking about how, only a few hours before, those soft, full lips had touched her neck and again she found herself confused. She had avoided this for so long and not just with Alice.

Rain flopped on her back and sighed. Of all the people she could be stuck with at the end of the world she could be with a lot worse than Alice. Alice who could kick ass and take names better than any woman Rain had ever known and look damn fine doing it. The last part took Rain by surprise and she used the back of her hand to try to rub off the grin that was tickling her face. Alice in her tight T-shirt and leather pants; the wide belt with the twin holsters and her latest addition, the knives held in scabbards against her back.

"What are you smiling about?"

When Rain looked to her right, Alice was awake and looking at her, a smile playing across her mouth.

"Nothing," Rain lied easily.

"Well, nothing looks good on you," Alice sat up, running her hand through her disheveled hair. "Good morning, by the way."

Sweeping aside her sleeping bag, Alice scooted down to the rear of the Humvee, opened the back and hopped out.

Rain sat up and watched as Alice stretched. Watched the muscles move in her arms and back. Her body was strong and rippled with muscle and sinew, yet still had a smooth femininity that Rain found appealing. Alice's hips were broad; her center of gravity low. Prefect for delivering a roundhouse kick or…

Alice was bent over her palms touching the ground with her legs slightly spread and Rain had been staring. _Jesus, Ocampo! What's gotten into you?_ Rain scrubbed her face with her hand. When she looked again, Alice was peering over her shoulder her breath a cloud of vapour on the chill air. And she was looking at Rain as if she knew exactly what the other woman had been thinking.

"I'm going to do a walk around," Alice reached into the back of the Humvee for her weapons. "See if there's anything stirring – living or dead."

Strapping on the knives and pistols, Alice watched Rain watching her. "When your brain is," Alice paused and pinned Rain's eyes with hers, "functioning, you can get the water boiling for the coffee."

"Yeah, sure," Rain said to Alice's retreating back.

**Later**

"Let's go shopping!"

Rain had been dozing in the passenger seat when Alice jerked the Humvee off the road, through a shallow ditch and into the parking lot of a pharmacy.

"What the…" Rain shook her head trying to clear the cobwebs from her brain as she gazed out the side window.

The building seemed reasonably intact except for the shattered glass of the front doors. The parking lot was another matter entirely. Cars were scattered around, doors askew, windshields smashed. Two of the cars were on their sides and one was charred by fire. Several mangled bodies completed the picture.

Rain favoured Alice with a puzzled look but Alice was looking past her. When Alice smiled, Rain turned to follow her gaze. Undead were now moving among the debris of the parking lot lurching up from where they had previously rested unmoving. And there were more than a few; Rain counted twelve to start with.

Alice exited the Humvee her smile still on her face as she moved toward the approaching zombies. Rain watched as Alice's hands moved slowly to her back and she drew the two deadly knives.

"Dammit," Rain cursed as she jumped from the vehicle. She climbed on the hood of the Humvee and raised her rifle to sight down the barrel. There was no point. Alice was literally cutting a swath through the undead hacking and slicing, her blades a blur. Lowering her rifle, Rain just watched.

_They don't stand a chance,_ Rain found herself thinking with a heavy dose of irony. Alice was a killing machine; moving fast and precise as if she had been programmed. With a rifle or a pistol Alice had been deadly, this was something altogether different. Rain knew she was good, she just didn't know she was_ this_ good.

When the last zombie had been dispatched, Alice cleaned her knives on a convenient scrap of clothing and turned to Rain. "Ready?" she said with a grin. "We don't have all day." Her knives sheathed, Alice headed to the front of the pharmacy.

"Yeah, right behind you," Rain said though she knew Alice couldn't hear.

Alice stepped over the broken plate glass and moved confidently along the front of the store her eyes searching. Rain followed behind.

It had been a new, modern drug store the sort that combined a small grocery store with a usual pharmacy and all that entailed. A makeup counter to one side of the checkouts had been smashed and blood splattered the wall behind it.

"I'll be at the back," Alice headed toward the prescription section. "Get whatever we need."

Rain pulled off a half salute at Alice's back. Making her way along the front she peered down each aisle. The damage was actually relatively minor; products scattered around and some shelves tipped but the place wasn't that bad.

Finding a cart on its side in one of the food aisles, Rain righted it and began filling it with water and juice bottles. After that she moved into the next aisle and grabbed canned goods. Once the cart was nearly full, she pushed it toward the front and filled the remaining space with batteries. Turning, she paused in front of the checkouts. A display of chocolate bars had caught her eye. Rain frowned unable to decide, and then finally settled on a Mars bar.

Ripping the wrapper she took a huge bite. Next to the candy display was a revolving rack of sunglasses. Several pairs had been knocked to the floor and broken but one pair near the top of the rack looked interesting to her. Retrieving the big aviators with gold frames, Rain slipped them on and peered at herself in the little mirror.

They looked good. Grinning at herself she noticed a bit of chocolate in the corner of her mouth. Rain pushed the sunglasses into one of the pockets of her vest and looked past the rack to another that held postcards. Rotating the rack slowly, she paused her eyes drawn to a fall scene resplendent with orange and red maple trees draped over the slow, dark water of a creek. She knew just where this shot had been taken, had stood on that bridge many times herself.

Taking a bag of nacho Doritos, Rain munched the chips as she perused the rack of post cards. She had chosen several when Alice returned from the back of the store carrying two full bags in one hand.

"Weather is here, wish you were nice?"

Rain didn't look at her. She had finished the Doritos and gone on to a second chocolate bar. Stuffing the postcards in her vest, Rain finally faced Alice her eyes going to the bag bulging with prescription drug bottles.

"I have a headache," Alice stated and moved past Rain to the full cart. "I'll take this out if you want to get some first aid supplies."

Rain rolled her eyes at Alice before taking a hand basket and heading down an aisle. She took bandages, ointment and anything else she could find before topping the basket off with a couple boxes of tampons, a package of toilet paper rolls and more chocolate bars.

**Later**

Alice was becoming concerned about Rain. They had been on the road again for almost an hour and Rain had said nothing. She was flipping through the postcards, slowly, one after another and eating junk food.

"It's never going to be like that again you…" Alice began.

"You think I don't know that?" Rain cut her off angrily. "This is where I grew up and now what's left? Nothing! Just dead people that aren't dead and…" Rain stopped speaking abruptly her face changing. The flushed look she had worn was giving way to a pale sickly shade.

"Pull over! Pull over right now!" Rain's hand grabbed at the door handle and she barely got the door open before she vomited.

Alice jammed the Humvee in park and jumped out circling the front to get to Rain's side.

Rain leaned out the door her head almost on her knees. On the gravel below her was a brown mess. Alice could hear Rain breathing hard. Taking a tissue from her pocket, Alice placed it in Rain's hand waiting while the other woman blew her nose and wiped her mouth. When Rain finally looked up her eyes were wet with tears.

"I'm sorry, Rain. I shouldn't have said that." Alice reached for Rain's shoulder.

"It's ok," Rain swiveled away from Alice wiping her eyes on the backs of her hands as she faced the front of the Humvee again. "I'm alright. I just ate too many chocolate bars."

**Later**

After the vomiting episode, Rain had been closed off riding beside Alice her body present though her mind seemed a thousand miles away. Alice could tell they were getting closer to their destination when Rain began paying more and more attention.

They had stayed on the back roads avoiding any of the towns and there had been no signs of life; at least not real, living life. Occasionally they passed a house or small business where one or two of the undead lurked and once there was a wrecked car in the road with several dead and undead around it that caused Alice to swerve.

The county road wove through wooded hilly country sparsely populated and coloured in the dead browns of early spring except for here and there where a patch of grass shone bright in the wane afternoon sun. In front of the few houses they passed daffodils and tulips poked their green leaves up out of damp earth.

Coming down off a steep hill – mountain Rain called it – the road leveled out and to the left they passed a golf course that seemed to go on forever. The clubhouse and pro shop close to the road had a few cars in the parking lots otherwise the area seemed deserted.

Around another bend in the road a large sign in pastels proclaimed _Welcome to Black's Brook_. Underneath a frothy depiction of foamy water over rocks, '_Population 657_' was printed in smaller letters.

Rain was sitting forward and watching intently as they passed a fire station its doors open and all the equipment absent except for one truck, then a gas station, a liquor store and a small strip mall. This seemed to have been the center of town because once Alice turned left onto a state highway, the cluster of businesses gave way to well spaced houses the intervals between them getting longer and longer until finally Rain spoke.

"There, turn there."

Alice turned the Humvee to the left as directed.

"Stop here."

Alice hit the brakes, the Humvee skidding slightly in the mud of the driveway they had pulled into. Rain hopped out and approached a dented steel mailbox. Retrieving the mail, she lowered the little red flag and walked back to the vehicle flipping through the letters and flyers.

Alice looked from Rain to the large white house at the bottom of the slight hill. The driveway dipped down and leveled off in an open area between the house and several out buildings, one a half painted shed. A covered verandah graced the front of the house and ran along one side toward the back. Alice half expected to see Rain's mother come around from the back wiping her hands on her apron and waving.

Glancing at Rain, Alice wondered if she wasn't thinking the same thing. The house and yard were almost normal except for the boards that covered all the visible windows of the lower floor of the house and the complete lack of life: Not a car, person, or even a dog stirred.

"Maybe you should have called and let them know you were coming home," Alice put the Humvee in gear and drove the short distance from the road down to the house. She could feel Rain's disapproving stare burning hot on her cheek as pulled around the back of the house and stopped on a concrete pad under a covered car park.

Rain was out of the Humvee first, her rifle in her hands as she mounted the steps toward the back door of the house. Alice got out more slowly and let her eyes roam all around the property as she moved toward the barn and shed. The barn appeared empty and the shed was closed tight. Walking back to the house Alice could sense nothing only a lonely emptiness.

The back door was locked. Rain stared at it for a moment before moving to a large planter and retrieving a key from under it. Turning the key in the lock Rain pushed the door open and stood back as it swung wide. Saying nothing, she stepped inside slowly Alice just behind her.

The first thing that hit Alice was the smell. It took her a moment to realize it was not a stench of rotting flesh, just an aroma of decaying food especially soured milk. Alice could see Rain wrinkling her nose in disgust.

The light coming in the back door revealed a large kitchen with cupboards and table surfaces neat and tidy. In the middle of the big heavy wood table sat a moldy bowl of fruit and an empty flower vase. Rain shone her flashlight around the kitchen before turning to her left and inspecting the dining room. When nothing jumped out at them, Rain moved farther into the darkened house giving the main living area a once over.

"Stay here," Rain gave Alice a stern look as she walked quickly past her and headed up the stairs.

Not one to obey orders very often, Alice flicked on her own flashlight and went into the living room. Like the kitchen, this room was tidy and seemed undisturbed. Alice had expected some sign of disaster given that someone had taken the time to nail boards over all the windows thereby giving the house some semblance of security, yet the house seemed as if the occupants had just up and left.

Alice could hear Rain's careful measured footsteps as she made her way around the upper floor. Shining her light around, Alice let her eyes scan the living room. The reflective glass of framed photographs and several shiny trophies on the mantle above the big stone fireplace caught her attention and she went to look more closely.

The largest photo, the one set prominently in the center of the display, was obviously a family portrait. In front of a building with a hint of a stained glass window to one side, the Ocampo family posed. Although the family members had obviously been arranged by the photographer, their smiles and easy posture made the picture more candid then staged. Alice found herself smiling as she looked at it.

Rain, dressed in neat pants and a blazer stood to the right of an older woman wearing a pretty yet understated dress. On the other side of the woman was a young man with an infectious, teasing grin. Behind the three were an older man flanked by his two older sons. Alice knew right off where Rain got her looks; her father had the same dark hair and eyes as his only daughter.

To the right of the main picture was a black framed photo of what Alice took to be the oldest son in an army uniform. Beside it was a display of his service medals including a Combat Infantryman's Badge, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. The black ribbon on the corner of the frame led Alice to believe that he had not survived his last posting. Farther along that side of the mantle were several football trophies and a picture of the two other sons dressed for a game their knees and elbows grass stained.

The other side of the mantle seemed to be Rain's space. In front of two shooting trophies were two photos. One was a high school graduation picture of a solemn Rain in robe and hat the year of which made Alice think Rain was younger than she had believed. In the other photo Rain wore a dark police uniform.

Alice barely noticed as Rain trotted downstairs and passed behind her on the way to the other downstairs rooms. The name engraved on one of the trophies had caught her eye. She was still staring at it when Rain returned.

"There's no one here," Rain's voice was tense. "My dad's rifle was just lying on his desk."

Alice finally looked at the other woman and noticed she was hefting another lever action rifle, this one a much older Winchester than the one Rain had recently acquired. When Rain reached past her to replace the rifle on the empty rack above the mantle, she noticed the trophy in Alice's hand and the odd look on her companion's face.

"Put it back."

Rain's voice left no room for disobedience.

"Sure thing, Lorraine."

Rain's stare as she walked away could melt nails.

Alice caught up to Rain a few minutes later in the basement. She was standing in a small stone-lined inner room that looked even older than the rest of the dirt floored cellar. One wall was covered with old wooden shelves holding numerous jars, the side opposite had an ancient worktable and, at the back, was a big gun safe. As Alice watched, Rain dropped to one knee and began working the combination lock. Once it was open, she stood back and gazed at the contents.

Even to Alice what was inside, three rifles, three handguns and various boxes of ammo, looked untouched.

Rain stepped back and sighed heavily. "It's like they just left," when she turned Alice could see the pain evident in her eyes, "didn't take anything, just walked away."

"I know, I'm sorry, Rain," Alice said softly.

Rain eyes flashed angrily. "You're _**sorry**_? _Sorry_ they're dead? _Sorry_ they're gone? _Sorry_ everything I cared about is wasted?"

Alice took a step back at Rain's building rage. She wanted to reach out to the younger woman, comfort her somehow maybe even put her arms around her. That was impossible. Rain's dark eyes shone with dangerous rage.

"I don't want _sorry_," Rain moved to push past Alice jamming her shoulder into the taller woman. The impulsive move did not hurt Alice only caused Rain to stumble back off balance. As she did, something was dislodged from her pants pocket and dropped to the floor between them.

Alice got to the photograph first. She shone her flashlight on the tattered and wrinkled picture of two smiling young women. One was Rain, younger and more innocent, the other an unknown pretty blonde. They were grinning in the way that people do when they hold a camera in front of them for a self portrait. Alice felt herself let out a long breath. The joy on the faces of Rain and her friend was simple, infectious and it was something that would never be again.

Alice's eyes met Rain's in the dark of the cellar for a long, charged moment before Rain snatched the picture away and stalked off without another word.


	5. The Only Exception

A/N: First off, thanks to everyone who has reviewed and faved etc this story. It really means a lot to me. Next, there's not a lot of action of the lurching zombie sort in this chapter just a lot of back story on how Rain became the girl she is. Last of all, this is a femslash Alice / Rain story so if you really aren't into that sort of thing you might want to skip the next chapter. If you ARE into that, hit the little button for story alert and hang on. Oh, and don't forget to hit the button marked review and tell me what you think. Thanks, Alice …..

**Chapter 5: The Only Exception**

The voices, measured and firm, invade Alice's ears in the same way the needles are invading her skin. Pain in her arms, in her head, all over her body. She can't escape the burning, can't make herself move to get away from it. She can't even slow her gasping breath.

Her eyes are shut tight against the piercing white light. She knows it's painful to open them, to try to see. She can feel them leaning over her. She can feel _him_. And she wants more than anything to see him, to look into his face.

Alice opens her eyes slowly feeling the light invade her brain like two spikes. She fights it, fights the pain and eventually he comes into focus above her; the white labcoat with its little Umbrella pin and above that his face; cold, expressionless and utterly without compassion.

Alice squeezes her eyes shut again feeling despair rush over her like a tidal wave. Pain strikes her heart when she knows there will be no getting away. Tears sting the corners of her eyes when the voice says – when he says – "Up the dose. Give her more."

Complete impenetrable darkness surrounded Alice and the only sound she could hear was her own harsh breathing. For a long time she stayed absolutely still as her brain tried to catch up and she could get her bearings. She felt no threat in the quiet dark around her and the dream – at least what she thought and hoped was a dream – was fading.

As her breathing slowed, Alice became aware of her head pounding in rhythm to her heart. This wasn't the first time she'd had this dream and far from the first time her head had ached with the intensity of a herd of elephants.

Sitting up she retrieved the pill bottle from her pocket and reached out for the water bottle she knew was close by even if she couldn't see it. Shaking the bottle of narcotic pain relievers she felt two pills drop into her hand. Tapping the bottle again gave her two more and, satisfied with this amount, she downed them with a long draught of water. Sighing, Alice laid back waiting for relief.

Concentrating on her breathing Alice willed the pain to ease. And it did. As her pain level lowered, a feeling of contentment, a sort of high she had come to enjoy, took over and she felt herself relax. She knew she had come to enjoy this high far too much but she also knew that with the skull drilling headache she was useless to Rain. For a moment she felt a pang of guilt that she had kept this problem, and the lengths to which she had been willing to go to control it, from her companion.

Thinking of Rain brought reality back. The warm leather under her back was the sofa in Rain's parents' living room, the gentle creak the sound of the old house shifting and, if she extended her mind far enough, she imagined she could hear Rain breathing from her room at the top of the stairs.

In another life this might've been a weird sort of sleep over. Rain being too embarrassed to allow Alice to share her room and her bed in front of her family, had given her a pillow and blanket and told her to sleep on the couch. Alice felt herself smiling at the thought. It didn't last long. With the high from the drugs came a deep loneliness. On previous nights when they slept in the Humvee, Alice would scoot closer to Rain finding the warmth of her body and the sound of her breathing comforting. Often those nights were broken by Rain's nightmares and Alice would be right there to give comfort.

Tonight though, it was Alice's nightmare and Alice's need.

Swinging her legs over the side of the couch, Alice gathered her weapons and rose. She walked around the living room and kitchen the layout already memorized so she could move confidently in the dark. Peering through strategic cracks in the boards over several windows, she assured herself the yard was free of threats before she headed silently upstairs.

The door to Rain's room was ajar. "It's just me," Alice whispered as she moved inside. The last thing she wanted was Rain's .45 in her face.

Rain made a noncommittal sort of noise and shifted slightly as Alice sat on the edge of the bed. "I couldn't sleep," Alice started to say then stopped knowing Rain wouldn't like her to be overly sentimental. Alice was still for a moment before she spoke again.

"I'm sorry about today," she started before she again stopped herself. Sighing, more words tumbled from her almost without her consent. "I always seem to be saying the wrong things to you and I don't mean to."

Rain gave another noncommittal grunt and shifted onto her back. In the tiny bit of light seeping past the curtains over the window, Alice could see Rain's dark eyes and she knew the other woman had not been sleeping either.

For a long time they stared at each other until Rain broke the silence saying something so unexpected that it took Alice a moment to process the words.

"Have you ever wanted someone so much your chest just aches?"

Alice didn't answer. Draping her holsters and knife scabbards over the bedpost with Rain's pistol belt, she slipped out of her pants and, in only her underwear and T-shirt, she got into bed beside Rain.

When she finally spoke, Alice still didn't answer the question Rain had posed.

"The girl in the picture?"

Rain huffed out a breath and shifted onto her side. She faced Alice only inches away. "I found the picture laying on the stairs," Rain said slowly. "I kept it sort of hidden, you know, where I could see it once in awhile and the only one who knew about it was my youngest brother."

Alice thought of the young man on the other side of Rain's mother; the boy with the mischievous grin. "I don't know why he would…" Rain trailed off shifting to her back again as she rubbed her face with her hand.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Alice said softly. She wasn't sure what of the many things possible could be bothering Rain: Her brother who was most likely dead along with the rest of her family, or…

"You know what she said to me?" Rain's voice was earnest and Alice gave a little shake of her head hoping the other woman would continue. "She told me I was like no one she had ever met; that I was different. She told me I was the only exception. Everyone else was trying so hard to fit in at school and here I was just going on about my business not caring what anyone else thought. She said she wished she could be as strong as me."

"Tell me about her."

Alice could almost see Rain smiling in the dark as she began. "My last year of high school she was just there. She was new, you know, and she went to my church too. Everyone was looking at her, whispering about her, 'cause she was so good looking." Rain gave a soft laugh. "Of course she fit in really well with the pretty, popular girls, but I knew there was something different about her."

Alice gave an 'um hmm' sort of noise to let Rain know she's still listening.

"I was, I don't know," Rain stumbled slightly, "just really into her. It was like the more I knew about her the more I wanted to know. I became so focused on her. I was…" Rain stopped searching for the right word.

"Intrigued?" Alice offered.

"Yeah, that's it exactly," Rain said and Alice could see her smile again. After a pause Rain continued. "I talked to her at church sometimes and a few times at school and we sort of became friends. I think it was hard for her being associated with me cause I was playing in my band and doing my shooting so of course I was an outcast and I didn't give a shit what anyone thought."

"They were probably scared of you with the guns and all," Alice suppressed a grin as the thought of Rain attending the private school she had gone to crossed her mind.

Rain huffed a sort of ironic laugh. "Oh, I'm sure they were. I was a big mystery, I know. My brother told me once some of his friends didn't know what to make of me. 'You give off a gay vibe' he said. 'You're all tough and you hang with the skater guys and play kick ass music, then every Sunday you're at church.'"

"So?" Alice prompted.

"So, one time after church, we were in the basement putting the extra chairs away and joking or whatever and I…" Rain hesitated then went on with a rush, "I just kissed her, you know. It was amazing, perfect, like the most natural thing and she didn't push me off. I don't know if I surprised her or what 'cause of course there was a noise on the stairs and we both jumped."

"Interrupted, of course," Alice smiled.

Alice could also see Rain was smiling. "After that we were sort of secretly together. I would go over to her house and we'd watch movies and just sort of… you know…"

"Cuddle on the couch?" Alice provided her smile getting even bigger.

"Yeah, like that," Rain's voice had dropped lower; more like her normal semi-pissed off state. "I was a teenager, you know."

Alice was fighting really hard not to call Rain innocent.

"You probably think I'm all innocent," Rain said as if she had been reading Alice's thoughts. "I just never…" she started then stopped, "I didn't know what I wanted, or who I..."

"Except for her," Alice said softly.

"Except for her," Rain echoed even softer.

"So," Alice prompted, "what happened with you two? Some teen drama?"

Rain shifted in the dimness and Alice could see her jaw tense. "Something like that, yeah."

There was a long pause then Rain continued with a rush. "I wrote her a note one day at school. I wasn't really serious, you know. It was just sort of like 'meet me under the stands after cheerleader practice'. I wrote it all girly with little hearts and stuff just messing around 'cause she liked that sort of thing. I got there late; my brother was teasing me, wouldn't give up the keys to the car, typical brother stuff."

Rain took a deep breath and Alice began to have a bad feeling about where this was going.

"When I got there it was almost dark. I could hear their voices before I saw them. 'Who did you write the note to?' they were saying to her – the other cheerleaders. 'None of your business,' she was saying. They thought she wrote the note. They went through a lot of 'better not be my boyfriend' stuff and then she just said it – I couldn't believe it. 'I wrote it to Rain,' she said 'because I really like her' and she said it really proud like, really in their faces. They were quiet for a second then started in on her. Calling her names, calling me a bitch dyke, you know, all that stuff. Then I heard a slap and it turned into a fight."

Rain sat up in bed and turned on her flashlight aiming it at the ceiling. Alice was curious what she was doing until she began to see little stars start to glow when the beam of light struck them. There were little stars, bigger stars drawn across the ceiling in the shapes of constellations, and even a swath of glowing dust like points that tracked the Milky Way.

"You don't know how many times I laid here, looking up, and thinking of all the things I should have done." Rain flicked off her light and both she and Alice stared up at the indoor night sky.

"You didn't…" Alice started finding it hard to believe the Rain she knew would not step in to break up a lopsided fight especially when someone she cared about was involved.

"Oh, I did. I broke it up and I even told them I wrote the note. But it was too late, they didn't believe me. They could believe I was gay, you know, 'you look like a dyke' they told me but for her it was so much worse. It was just inconceivable to them that someone like them, someone popular and pretty, could be so different."

"And so gay," Alice added. "People are stupid, Rain."

Rain turned her head where she was resting it on her knees and looked at Alice. "Is that from The Book of Alice?" her mouth quirked slightly as she said this.

Alice laughed lightly not speaking just letting Rain continue if she wanted.

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life," Rain recited. "I learned to tell myself that when things just seemed too hard," Rain paused. "That's chapter 3, verse 1 in The Book of Rain," she added.

"I like that one," Alice smiled again. "I think I'll highlight it." Alice sat up pulling her knees up as Rain had done and waited.

"It got worse," Rain eventually continued and Alice spent a moment marveling at how much Rain had opened up to her over the last little while and how meaningful these conversations in the dark had become.

"They never let her alone after that. They spread it around. I guess it was easy for them to pick on her 'cause she was the new girl and from away. They tried a little bit on me, but what difference did it make? Everyone had already made up their minds about me. I was gay, I was a bitch, I was dangerous, I was into drugs, not true, I only went to church 'cause my family made me', again not true."

"This didn't end well, did it Rain?" Alice asked slowly feeling like she should be holding her breath.

"No, it didn't," Rain answered even more slowly. For a long moment she said nothing just took slow deep breaths as if trying to compose herself. "They didn't let up on her. She had to quit cheerleaders 'cause no one would talk to her. They made up pictures, you know Photo Shopped her with girls, guys, whoever. It became like she was a tramp, a slut." Rain shook her head at the irony. "I tried to do something; I talked to the guidance counselor, even the principal, told them to do something 'cause it was killing her. She was pulling away from everything, even me."

Alice gently reached out and touched Rain's shoulder and Rain didn't push her away.

"You know what happened after that?" Rain looked at Alice her eyes flashing. "They called me a snitch. As if trying to do the right thing was snitching. Stupid fucking word! They were in the wrong and she deserved justice, you know. That's when I got mad."

Alice drew in a breath wondering if the school could have been left standing when Rain 'got mad'.

"No, I didn't shoot them," Rain leaned into Alice in a sort of affectionate nudge. "You are so transparent."

"Me? I didn't even say anything!" Alice let her arm sneak around the other woman when she leaned close. Her tone was playful despite the seriousness of the conversation.

"I went to war against them, called them cowards, hypocrites. I told anyone who would listen that they were just picking on her 'cause they didn't like her and if they wanted to call anyone 'gay' like it was an insult, to take on me. I got in a few fights mainly with guys 'cause the girls would only take on me in a group. Made the locker room after gym class fun, you know," Rain again added irony.

"Did she quit school?"

"Nope, she just kept telling me it was alright, things would get better, they'd stop, all that. But it didn't." Rain laid her head on her knees and Alice saw her shoulders shake.

"It was the first time my faith was really shaken. I thought, I really thought, I was going to strangle my Pastor when he said to me 'Lorraine, sometimes bad things happen to good people and we really don't know why.' I walked out. I just got up and walked out. I didn't go back to church for awhile."

Alice was running her hand over Rain's back and shoulders gently trying to give reassurance.

"So, what happened?"

"I got my name legally changed. I went back and showed my Pastor the papers and told him to never call me Lorraine again," Rain tried to laugh.

"No, Rain," Alice let her fingers run through Rain's hair. "What happened to the girl you cared about, the girl you loved?"

Instantly Rain's eyes were wet. Alice could see her change, see her crumple. Rain opened her mouth, tried to say something, then shut it. Taking a deep breath, she wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. "She was found hanging in her family's barn. She had taken a bunch of her mother's prescription drugs and put a rope around her neck. It didn't matter; either would've killed her."

Alice said nothing just looked up at the stars pasted on the ceiling by a younger more hopeful Rain.

"I went back to church," Rain started. "I guess I made my peace with God. I never stopped being mad though, I couldn't. Justice means a lot to me, Alice, justice and fairness. I think that's why I wanted to be a cop. I ran up against the bullshit again when I wanted to get into SWAT. Long story short, when Umbrella came to me and told me they could give me what I wanted, well, the rest is history, you know."

"I'm sorry Rain, I mean it. I…" Alice stopped. With nothing to say she just rested her chin on Rain's shoulder both arms now around the younger woman.

"Now we've got this," Rain said eventually. "And the words 'justice' and 'Umbrella' don't fit together real good either."

"No they don't," Alice whispered, "but I plan on getting a little justice against Umbrella. Just watch me."


	6. Set Fire to the Rain

A/N: This longish chapter is rated M. As I warned back at the beginning of chapter 1, this is a femslash story so if you prefer our girls to just be good friends you can skip over the M rated part. Just be sure to read the last part as the tension and excitement is heating up. Hope you like cliffhangers 'cause there's a few to come before this story is over.

Alice …

**Chapter 6: Set Fire to the Rain**

Rain woke to a soft _drip, drip, drip._

Shifting on to her back she gazed at the ceiling where the glow of the little plastic stars had long faded. The room was that half light, half dark that could be early morning, or later morning on a cloudy or rainy day.

_Drip, drip, drip…_

Rainy then, Rain decided. The outer sill of her window always dripped slowly, softly when it was raining. She liked the sound; maybe loved it. It reminded her of easy Saturday mornings spent laying in bed rummaging through her mind replaying last night's dreams and expanding on them or creating new fantasies.

Her mind ranged back to a Saturday morning about a week after her high school graduation. She had gone through the motions of all the fussy ceremonies. All of them except the prom. No way was she doing that. It had occurred to her to go alone as a sort of protest to Courtney's death, or to ask a girl from a lower grade to go with her, but ultimately she just couldn't be bothered. Many times she had fantasized what it would've been like for her and Courtney to attend as Courtney had wanted before things had got so bad. When she was in a really bad mood those fantasies ended in ways that had more in common with Stephen King than any wholesome teen longing.

Rain had spent the days after graduation in her room alone doing nothing more than playing her guitar or listening to music. She wasn't interested in video games and when she bothered to look at her laptop she just deleted the few emails she had received. Her parents let her be knowing she had things to sort out on her own. Every once in a while her mother would bring her something to eat and, after consuming the food, Rain would leave the dishes outside her door. If it bothered her mother to be used as room service, she didn't say so.

The day Rain was thinking of had started with her trotting down the stairs and into the kitchen carrying the tray of dirty dishes. She had showered and her damp hair hung loose around her shoulders.

"I'm making pancakes and Tory and I are going to have brunch," her mother glanced at her as Rain put the dishes in the dishwasher," if you'd like to join us."

The sound of the lawnmower getting closer drew Rain's eyes to the window and her brother came into view pushing the mower fast as he tried to finish before the rain started in earnest. He caught her looking at him and gave a cheery wave. Rain stuck out her tongue at him and rolled her eyes.

'Bitch,' he mouthed at her.

'Ass face,' she mouthed in return.

"Mowing in the rain," she mumbled to herself as she turned from the window. Her mother was beating the pancake mix with a strong, practiced arm.

"Your grandfather was the one that started calling you Rain, you know. When you were born it was storming something awful and you came out screaming your head off. He told me just before he died he thought you were in for a stormy life."

Rain looked up at that last statement trying to meet her mother's eye. The first part she had heard before, the second was news to her.

"No one said life would be easy, Rain." Putting down the bowl Rain's mother began to lay slices of thick bacon in a cast iron frying pan. "I know you find it hard to understand that things happen for a reason," their eyes met for a moment before her mother looked away. "You might not understand the reason or even that the reason might simply be to make us stronger."

Rain made a soft huff and crossed her arms on her chest as she leaned on the counter. "They're saying she's not in heaven, you know, because she killed herself," Rain looked out the window again trying hard to keep the tears from starting in her eyes.

"And that hurts you…"

"It's not fair. If anyone deserves to be an angel it's her. Fucking bitches don't know anything!"

Her mother finished laying out the bacon and placed the pan on the stove. Turning, she faced her daughter directly. "Life is a gift, Rain, don't you ever forget that. There is no greater gift that God could possibly give us," her voice was strong.

Rain pouted out her lower lip. "Then why make it unbearable! Why make the good people suffer while twats like…"

"Don't you be angry at me, girl!" the older woman pointed a fork at Rain. "And don't you swear in my house!"

For a long moment Rain's brown, almost black, eyes held her mother's lighter brown ones before she looked down. Rain sniffed and shifted her feet. "I'm sorry for swearing."

"But you're not sorry for being angry. I'll grant you that, Rain, you deserve to be." Rain looked up meeting her mother's gaze again. "You are a passionate, strong girl. Right now all you feel is the passion not the strength. But God grant you grace, you will soon know your own strength."

When her mother turned back to the pancake mix Rain wiped at the corners of her eyes. "I might go to church tomorrow," Rain said softly. She saw her mother's shoulders go still. "I haven't made up my mind yet," she added.

Rain's mother laughed softly as she reached for the big griddle. "Pastor Lyndon said you could play your guitar and play a song if you want," turning to face Rain her mother held a spatula. "The acoustic, not the electric," she said a smile teasing at her mouth.

Rain snickered. She didn't tell her mother she had been thinking about that very thing; thinking about playing one of Courtney's favourite songs. Something that would be meaningful and possibly let out some of the emotions she had been feeling over the last six weeks since her friend's death. Her hand strayed to her chest above her heart and she touched the sore spot tenderly.

Rain's mother watched as Rain pulled back her T-shirt and looked at the fresh tattoo.

"Your father and I raised you to make good decisions, Rain." At that moment Rain's brother came through the screen door and began nosily kicking off his boots. Ignoring him her mother continued. "We accept your need to be different and will love you no matter who you find to love but that tattoo…"

"Good decisions? Mom," Tory bounced across the kitchen and eyed the bacon sizzling in the pan before grabbing a muffin and pulling off the top, "that ink rocks!"

Rain made a quick move after her brother trying to snatch away the muffin top. When he turned his back to her she squeezed him tight.

"You back?" Tory whispered so only Rain could hear.

"I might be," Rain said into his ear. "Would that make you happy?"

Rain felt him squeeze her hand. "Only if you are," he replied.

Rain sighed as her hand played across the tattoo on her chest under her T-shirt and the warm covers of the bed. When her elbow moved it brushed Alice's shoulder where the other woman lay beside her. Propping herself up she looked down at Alice.

Like that morning in the Humvee, Alice had her right hand over her chest as she breathed softly. Rain stared at her, eyes going from her tousled hair to her soft lips. Leaning just a bit closer Rain could feel the warmth of Alice's body and a longing started in her chest. She thought about kissing Alice, thought about laying her body over her and basking in her warmth. Her hands would trace Alice's hips as her mouth traced Alice's jaw down to her neck.

Slowly, quietly, Rain shifted until she was almost directly over Alice. Without consciously thinking about it, she lowered her face until her lips touched Alice's sleepy mouth. Holding herself on her arms she made the kiss tender, careful.

Rain did not break contact when she felt Alice breath out; she only deepened the kiss as the other woman came awake. Alice sighed, not opening her eyes, as her hands found Rain's waist and pulled her closer. Rain let her tongue probe gently into Alice's mouth as she felt Alice began to respond. When Alice tangled a hand in the hair at that back of her neck and tried to pull Rain down harder and make the kiss even more intense, Rain resisted.

Rain kept the kiss soft, plaintive and when she did break away her breath on Alice's cheek was a whisper of things to come even as she moved off Alice and got off the bed. Alice didn't speak just watched as Rain dressed and left.

"Damn," Alice whispered to herself.

**Later**

Rain was wearing loose boxer shorts and no shirt as she washed her hair in the sink under the window. Alice paused at the bottom of the stairs to take in the scene. Their big Coleman stove was sitting on the kitchen's useless stove with a large pot of water warming under a low propane flame. Rain had finished shampooing and reached for a large steel pitcher. Awkwardly she started pouring the water over her head to rinse her hair.

Alice crossed the room and took the pitcher from Rain. Wordlessly she rinsed the younger woman's hair careful passing her fingers through the dark strands. When the pitcher was empty, Rain took a towel and began rubbing her head still leaning over the sink.

Once finished that she straightened up and draped the towel over her shoulders. Alice passed her the comb and watched as she began to comb out her hair. Rain said nothing and Alice's eyes began to wander. Just under the towel on Rain's left chest Alice could see a tattoo. She had gotten a glimpse of it before a time or two, but had never been able to see it clearly. This time she made out the round shape that could be a moon and a sort of angel before Rain turned away reaching for an undershirt.

On Rain's back was another tattoo. Alice stepped forward and stopped Rain from pulling the undershirt down her back as she took in the colourful iguana-like creature twisting itself around a weathered stone cross surrounded by dark green palm fronds. The tattoo took up most of Rain's right shoulder blade.

"I like that one," Alice passed her finger tips lightly over Rain's skin.

Rain turned partly sideways and raised her eyebrow at Alice.

"More than this one," Alice said with a grin touching the barbed wire intertwining the words "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" high on Rain's left shoulder.

"Yeah? You got any ink?"

Alice's grin widened and her eyes became playful.

"Maybe you'll find out sometime."

Rain held Alice's gaze as she ran her hands through her damp hair.

"You kissed me." Alice finally broke the silence.

"Yeah?" The word 'and' was implicit in Rain's reply.

Alice grinned. "And it was nice."

Rain faced Alice and said nothing for a moment. "There's water," her eyes went to the pot on the stove, "if you want to have a bath." Shaking out the towel Rain headed for the stairs.

**Later**

Alice walked around the perimeter of the house pausing now and then to look at tracks in the mud that could be from a deer or something larger. What seemed to be drag marks gave her the longest pause. The rain had stopped at the moment though the sky was dark with the promise of more. Somewhere nearby a robin was singing lustily in a cheerful if disjointed way.

A rumble of thunder from the direction of the tall hills and an ominous whooshing sound coming with the wind sent Alice scrambling for the cover of the porch. The rain came on a wall of wind that whipped around the corners of the house and bent the stiff, dead stalks of last year's corn as it passed the house and moved off into the adjacent field.

Sitting on the top step Alice stared at the corn field. It was not hard for her to imagine something dead lurching its way out of the rotten cornstalks snarling in blood lust as it made its way toward her. A flutter of wings and an irate squawking had Alice drawing one of her pistols in a split second. She tracked the robin as it flew from the cornfield to an evergreen tree near the barn.

The crocuses next to the bottom step had wisely closed up their blooms to the deluge, Alice thought looking down at the little flowers. So far, at least, nature was carrying on despite the human race doing its damndest to mess things up. Other signs of spring were evident around the house: Tulips and daffodils had sprouted heavy green flower buds and the trees were graced with equally heavy leaf buds. If she believed like Rain did, Alice would think God was thumbing his nose at Umbrella.

It was all so ordinary. In front of her, between the house and the corn field, there was a large maple tree that in the summer Alice supposed shaded the cozy picnic area with its stone patio, brick BBQ, and picnic table. For a moment Alice imagined herself sitting beside Rain across form Rain's mother trying to answer the older woman's polite questions about how she had come to be friends with her daughter. 'Well, you see Mrs. Ocampo, there was this secret facility under Raccoon City and I had lost my memory and Rain was there to rescue anyone who might've survived the zombie apocalypse, but that hardly matters since you are probably a zombie yourself wandering around…'

Alice put a halt to that line of thought abruptly. It was too depressing to allow too continue. In a way she considered herself lucky: Her parents were long dead and she had no siblings. Unfortunately for Rain, here they were in the house she had grown up in with the specter of Rain's family either dead or worse, undead. Hopefully it was the former and not the later though Alice truly doubted it.

Rain was tense; Alice could see it in the set of her shoulders and the shadows lurking behind her eyes. How did you comfort someone in this situation? Alice was trying her best to just _be there_. To listen when Rain wanted to talk, to lay a gentle hand on her back when she felt the other woman needed it, and to give more if she wanted it. This last thought brought Alice up short. Before this her sex life didn't harbor any ambiguities. If she wanted a girl (or the rare guy) she simply made her feelings known and, more often than not, they went for it. It was simple, no complications. Rain was neither of those things and Alice wondered if that was what made her even more appealing than all her previous one night hookups had been.

Well, that and the fact the girl was hot. Alice felt herself smiling at the thought. Rain was focused, capable, and way beyond good looking to Alice. Her shoulders and those abs left Alice biting her lip more times than she could count. What was funny was Rain didn't seem to notice either that she was hot or that Alice noticed she was. Well, maybe she did notice at least a little bit. Alice cringed inwardly; she hadn't been overly subtle since subtly was hardly her thing.

_Can't teach an old dog new tricks, Alice_, she told herself.

There was a sharp flash of lightening followed quickly by a crack of thunder. Alice rose and re-holstered her handgun. A short walk around the porch found nothing alive or dead moving in the downpour so Alice headed inside. Closing the door she shot the bolt and propped a heavy chair under the doorknob.

"God damn fucking little fucker!" The shout came from upstairs followed by an even more inventive string of curses.

Alice bounded up the stairs and stopped short at the door to Rain's room. The younger woman was standing in front of a large cabinet that Alice had paid little attention to until now. The glass doors were open and Rain was staring inside her face twisted in a look of annoyance.

Alice approached quietly and stood close behind Rain who hardly seemed to notice her. Looking over Rain's shoulder Alice tried to make sense of what was inside.

It was a sort of military diorama. The kind of thing you often saw in an historical museum. At least Alice thought that's what it was supposed to be. The terrain was a rolling grassy field one side of which was occupied by World War 2 era tanks, jeeps and soldiers. The other side was more Civil War with cannons, wagons and horses. What made the whole thing unusual was the plastic T-Rex grappling with one of the smaller Barbie's – Skipper maybe - in the middle of the battlefield. Above the dinosaur and the doll the starship Enterprise floated serenely suspended by fishing line. Alice paused and looked closer noticing other anomalies.

"Is that General Lee?" Alice leaned close to Rain her chin on the other woman's shoulder a gentle hand at her hip. "Over there on the hood of…"

Rain reached in and snatched the little figure with his gallantly raised sword from hood of the die-cast metal Mustang car. Grabbing up the T-Rex and Barbie, she then placed Robert E. Lee at the head of his troops.

Alice couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. "What about this guy over here with the shiny helmet?" Alice didn't have to point to the figure on the other side, the one that was standing on the back of a menacing looking saber tooth cat.

"Patton," Rain sighed as she took away the cat and placed the other general beside one of the tanks. "My brother," Rain said by way of explanation as she closed the cabinet doors and slowly turned. "He took my Gina Carano poster too," she gestured to an empty spot on the wall behind Alice. "The bastard's always messing with my stuff when he gets a chance."

Alice didn't bother to look; the sight in front of her was just as sexy and far more real and present. Lowering both hands to Rain's waist, Alice leaned in even closer. Rain was pressed back against the cabinet as Alice moved so their cheeks brushed.

"You smell so good," Alice breathed in the scent of Rain's dark hair.

Rain caught Alice's T-shirt with both hands keeping the taller woman from getting any closer. Pulling back Alice looked into the other woman's eyes not seeing what she expected. Rain's eyes were dark with something almost unreadable and for a moment Alice didn't know if she was about to be kissed or get a knife to her gut.

The decision was made when Rain's eyes twinkled.

"So kiss me, bitch."

Alice felt her jaw drop open. It was closed for her at a light touch from Rain and then Rain was leaning in and Alice found herself being kissed.

Like this morning, the kiss was slow and oh, so tender. When Alice tried to deepen it with a bit of tongue she felt the hands still clutching her shirt tighten.

Breaking for air, Alice let her lips move down Rain's jaw to her soft neck. At the same time both her hands moved inside the back of Rain's shorts and down over her firm ass. As she gave tender nibbles to Rain's neck and throat, Alice worked her strong hands kneading the smooth, tight flesh of Rain's rear.

"God, you feel good," Alice mumbled as much to herself than to Rain.

Pulling the other woman hard against her, Alice found Rain's mouth again in a hungry kiss as her finger tips explored between Rain's muscled buttocks.

With a moan Rain pulled away from Alice's kiss and pressed her face into the other woman's shoulder.

"You like that?" Alice continued her kneading and teasing.

"Oh, yeah," Rain breathed into Alice's neck.

Grinning Alice pulled back. Her eyes dropped as her hands moved to Rain's belly. Slowly Alice raised the undershirt Rain was wearing. Then, biting her lip, Alice dropped to one knee as she pressed her face hungrily against Rain's gorgeously sculpted abdomen.

Nibbling her belly as she had her neck, Alice let her hands move all over Rain's hips before catching the waist band of her shorts and easing them slowly down. With a deep sigh Alice let her tongue trail along the distinct line of muscle from Rain's hipbone down to the edge of her pelvic mound.

Rain sucked in a breath when Alice pressed her face into her generous thatch of dark hair. Alice pushed Rain's shorts to the floor and stood. Seizing Rain's mouth once again with hers, she backed the shorter woman toward the bed.

Alice broke the kiss only long enough to pull Rain's shirt over her head. Rain began to work at Alice's belt freeing her weapons to drop to the floor. When Rain began to push her pants down, Alice stepped back to finish the job herself. Slowly she eased out of her clothing watching Rain watch her.

Once naked, Alice moved forward pressing her fair skin against the darker woman. Rain let Alice push her back onto the bed her hands grabbing at Alice's hair as Alice moved over her. Alice maneuvered her thigh between Rain's legs letting out a soft gasp as the other woman's leg found her soft center as well.

For a time Alice stayed propped on her elbows moving her body slowly and deliberately over the smaller woman under her. Her mouth was active, kissing and nipping at Rain's jaw and ear.

"What else do you like, baby?" Alice whispered in Rain's ear her voice husky and heavy with desire.

When Rain gave no reply Alice made a quick move flipping Rain on top. A growl escaped her as she moved her hands all over the Rain's smooth, bare skin. The softness of a woman's skin was something Alice craved. Her hands were now on Rain's hips as she moved Rain against her.

Rain met Alice's mouth for another of her slow kisses. Then, as Alice's hands moved down her hips, Rain pushed backward and settled in a kneeling position between Alice's legs. Alice watched curiously as Rain reached over her to take an elastic from a shelf over the head of the bed. Her eyes never leaving Alice's, Rain pulled her hair back and secured it in a pony tail.

"Do you want to stop?" Alice ran her fingertips down Rain's thighs unsure of what was going on in the other woman's mind.

Rain's jaw tensed and she spoke very softly. "I'm not that… experienced." The last word was tentative as she looked away.

"We can stop," Alice said gently, "if you want to. I don't want you to be uncomfortable or to do anything you don't want to."

Rain set her jaw again her look almost defiant. She didn't answer, at least not with words. Leaning forward she let her hands, fingers splayed and palms down, trail from Alice's shoulders, down over her breasts to her groin at the edge of her pubic mound.

"You're not as old as Umbrella says you are, are you," Alice sucked in a breath at Rain's touch.

Rain smiled ironically as her hand traced over the small tattoo of two interlinked female symbols Alice had tattooed next to her right pelvic bone.

"I'm twenty-two. For some reason Umbrella thought it would be better if everyone thought I was older."

Alice didn't have time to reply as Rain moved forward again taking her lips in another kiss this one making no mistake as to what she wanted. Alice let herself be kissed her hands moving over Rain's tight rear and the small of her back.

When Rain moaned into their kiss, Alice turned the smaller woman on her side her hand going between her legs. Alice's palm cupped Rain's mound as her middle fingers pressed between her warm folds.

Alice let a growl escape her as her fingertips found sweet wetness. Her tongue explored all around Rain's full lips as her fingers explored Rain's lower lips moving from her moist, deep center up to her tender nub. Rain moaned pulling away from Alice's mouth so she could breathe. Alice's fingers were firm and very direct as they sent pleasure coursing through Rain's groin.

Another quick move and Alice was again on top. Trailing kisses down Rain's body – pausing to give a few teasing licks to one of Rain's nipples – Alice settled comfortably between her legs. She did not hesitate as her hands smoothed back Rain's thick hair and her tongue stroked and probed in Rain's tender wet. A groan of need, surprise, and hunger all mixed together came from Rain when Alice's skilled mouth seized her clit.

There was nothing else in this world for Rain except the incredible pleasure that caused her hips to buck involuntarily as sensation moved like a solid presence from her heated center up through her belly to sit with a heavy anticipatory presence in her chest.

"Please…" Rain let the single word out and Alice responded by increasing the intensity of the already unbelievable suckling attention she was giving Rain's clit.

"…don't stop." The pressure was now in Rain's throat and she thought she might never breathe again as her climax took her mind and body in its firm embrace. Alice's hands went under Rain's behind squeezing the tightly flexed muscles as her tongue rested unmoving against Rain's throbbing clit.

After a long, languid recovery for them both, Alice kissed her way gently up Rain's body to lay close beside her.

"Hey, girl," Alice smoothed a loose strand of hair behind Rain's ear.

Lightning flashed and thunder rattled the glass doors of Rain's diorama cabinet. "I guess it's been doing that for a while," Alice commented as Rain settled lower her head tucked under Alice's chin, "and we never noticed."

Rain huffed a breath out. "Stormy," she murmured, "seems to be the story of my life."

"A little fire with our rain," Alice whispered.

Moving her hand along Alice's tender side, Rain lifted her chin just slightly as she felt Alice's nipple brush her lips. A harsh gasp escaped the older woman as Rain lips surrounded her taut nipple. As Rain began to suck steadily, Alice shifted onto her back her hand finding Rain's and guiding it downward where she needed it most.

Alice lifted one knee and pressed Rain's fingers down and inside her aching wetness. Rain's thumb found its way naturally to Alice's hard, hungry clit.

"Just like that," Alice encouraged her hand resting lightly on Rain's wrist. Alice's hips moved with the stroking of Rain's fingers as they moved deep inside her. Rain did not let up and Alice did not take long. After what seemed only moments, Alice was arching her back as her body clamped down tightly on Rain's hand inside her. A long, slow groan made its way out of her tight throat and clenched jaw.

Rain rode with Alice's orgasm eventually moving over the other woman melding their bodies together. Nature, in the form of rain, pattered against the window as the two women kissed gently.

"Do you want to stop?" Rain raised herself on her elbows and looked down at Alice with teasing eyes.

Alice only laughed and hugged Rain tight.

**The next morning**

Rain woke to bright sunshine in her eyes. Blinking she stared at the ceiling. Dropping her right arm flat out beside her proved what she had suspected; Alice wasn't in bed beside her.

Too bad, Rain thought as she stretched. Her back and knee making soft pops as the joints flexed. Feeling around the bed she located her undershirt and shorts and pulled them on as she stood. Moving toward the window she blinked into the bright sun.

Alice was directly below squatting in the mud. Her hand was moving lightly over the ground and her look was puzzled. As Rain watched, Alice's head came up and her eyes narrowed as she looked toward the back of the house and the corn field. When Alice's expression turned to a sort of ferocious sneer and she pulled one of her knives from her back, Rain felt her heart kick into high gear.

"Oh, shit," Rain stumbled back pawing at the bedpost not finding her .45. Forgetting the pistol for now, Rain launched herself through the doorway and down the stairs. Her eyes fell on an array of weapons on the kitchen table. Weapons she had been cleaning yesterday. The first thing she got her hand on was her father's .357 Colt revolver.

Rain lost several precious seconds as she fought to get the door open. Once out and on the porch she leaped over the stairs skidding in the mud and grass in her bare feet.

Alice faced one undead, her knife ready as she let it approach. The man looked familiar to Rain and she slid to a stop too far behind Alice to stop her swing.

"Wait!" Rain managed to shout. The sweep of Alice's broad blade faltered yet still struck home. The zombie collapsed backward as dead, coagulated blood gushed from its throat.

"That's my brother," Rain added her voice dropping in despair.


	7. If I Die Young

**A/N: **The action picks up in this chapter. Lots of zombie shooting good times. I hope everyone is having as much fun reading this as I am writing it. Alice…..

**Chapter 7: If I Die Young**

Alice's head whipped around at Rain's shout. "What?"

As Rain stalked closer the revolver held low in her right hand, Alice could see the mix of emotions playing over her face: Shock, despair, and one that was quickly replacing the others, rage.

Breathing hard, Rain stood looking down at the young man in the grass. After a moment of deep, slow breaths, Rain's eyes moved to Alice then to the blood soaked knife in her hand. Alice saw Rain's jaw tighten and her dark eyes flash.

"Rain, I'm sorry," Alice reached out a hand only to have it swatted away.

"Why are you always _sorry_?" Rain's words were an accusation as much as a question.

Not having an answer, Alice opened her mouth and quickly shut it again.

A gurgle from the body on the ground drew their attention. Rain dropped to her knees her shoulders slumping.

"Oh, God, Tory! How did this happen?"

Slowly her left hand moved as if to touch him yet she hesitated. The creature that had once been her brother continued to gurgle and his cloudy eyes fixed on Rain. His chest was rent with bite marks and slash marks under his torn shirt, but Rain could still see the silver cross around his slashed neck. When she reached for it, his hand moved and closed around her wrist.

The touch of cold, long dead flesh caused Rain to recoil in terror. Stumbling backward she shook her hand vigorously trying to rid herself of his touch.

"Rain, he's gone," Alice took a step closer trying to comfort Rain. "He's not your brother…"

The words were cut off when Rain sprang from the ground and launched herself at Alice. Alice was driven backward, the smaller woman on top of her, onto the hard patio stones. Alice had only a moment to consider that her head had narrowly missed the picnic table's bench when Rain began to pummel her.

Straddling Alice's hips, Rain swung her left fist again and again at Alice's jaw, cheek and chest. Alice did little to fend off the blows only closed her eyes to the look of despair and rage on Rain's face. The blows were punctuated with garbled words as Rain ranted letting out everything that she had held inside since The Hive.

When the blows became less frequent as Rain lost strength, Alice opened her eyes. The bright sun that had been over Rain's shoulder was cut off as something moved behind them. Immediately Alice began to struggle. Grabbing at Rain's right hand with the revolver still clasped in her grip and pressed into the ground next to her ear, Alice fought to shove the other woman off her.

"Rain, he's…" she was barely able to get out as Rain resisted.

Fortunately, Alice was stronger. She managed to pull Rain's arm up and turn her wrist as what had once been Rain's own flesh and blood closed in on his unwitting sister. For a moment Rain's face reflected surprise as the gun was aimed at her before Alice moved the barrel slightly to the left and jammed her thumb against the trigger.

The blast of the big hand gun nearly deafened Rain. Clutching at her right ear, she fell to the side turning just in time to see her undead brother fall backward for the last time, a neat hole in his forehead. Alice watched as Rain's body went slack and she collapsed on her side facing away.

Alice let a long minute go by before she slowly sat up. She wiped at the blood seeping from her nose and lip as she turned to Rain.

The dark haired woman lay trembling beside her and Alice could hear stifled sobs. Kneeling beside her, Alice slowly and gently let her hand rest on Rain's shoulder. Rain twitched at the touch but Alice did not let her shrug her off. Shifting so that she was sitting with one leg out straight, Alice pulled Rain closer.

There was no resistance left in Rain as she turned toward Alice burying her face in Alice's lap. Holding her, Alice let her cry.

"I'm sorry, Alice. I shouldn't have hit you. I lost control. I'm sorry I…" Rain mumbled between sobs.

"It's OK, baby," Alice held her tighter.

When eventually Rain sat up, she looked at the blood on Alice's face her eyes pained. They stared at each other for a moment before Rain turned to look at her brother.

"I have to bury him," she whispered as she got to her feet.

Alice said nothing just watched as Rain walked with a determined stride toward the closest shed. When she returned, she dropped a shovel at Alice's feet before continuing past her to the soft, tilled earth of the vegetable garden.

They dug in silence. When Rain was satisfied the hole was deep enough, large enough, she went to her brother's body and dragged him to the grave. This time when she reached to take the cross from around his damaged neck, he did not resist.

Rain held the cross in her hand smudging at the dried blood on it with her thumb.

"We always told him he'd never make it to twenty, as crazy as he was," Rain looked at Alice the ghost of a smile on her lips. "He would do anything anyone ever dared him to, the crazy fool." Rain said the last with affection in her voice.

"He told me once," Rain's hands moved over her brother's chest trying to straighten his torn shirt, "'If I die young, I don't want a big funeral with everyone crying, I want a big party with everyone having a couple drinks on me and having fun.' Too bad he's not going to get either."

With Alice's help, they lowered the body into the hole they had dug. For a moment Rain stood still gazing down at the body of her brother. Alice said nothing, just waiting until, with a sigh, Rain began to shovel dirt into the grave.

Once her brother was buried, Rain jammed her shovel into the ground at the head of the grave and turned to Alice.

"We're leaving," Rain's dark eyes were wet and tears streaked through the dirt smeared on her cheeks.

When Alice tried to reach for her, Rain brushed aside her hand and turned toward the house.

"I can't stay here anymore."

Inside the house, Alice began to gather weapons and equipment as Rain washed the mud from her hands and bare legs. Once she was clean, Rain brushed past Alice and ran up the stairs.

Alice had taken two loads of gear out to the Humvee when Rain returned. She had changed into her usual black cargo pants, boots, shirt and utility vest and she held two duffle bags. One she dropped at Alice's feet. "Here's some of my older brother's clothes. The stuff should fit you."

Alice just nodded. Her eyes moved past Rain to the mantle and the family pictures. "Did you want to…"

Rain followed her gaze her eyes going from the pictures to her father's rifle where it hung over the fireplace.

"I learned to shoot on this old thing," Rain said as she went into the living room and took it down. Alice nodded again and followed Rain silently from the house.

Walking toward the Humvee, Alice glanced back as Rain locked the door and replaced the key under the planter where they had found it.

**A little bit later**

The first ten minutes or so on the road passed in a haze. Rain was slumped against the side window with her eyes closed and Alice was just driving, the big Humvee seeming to find its own way down the country road.

When Rain reached to where her .45 usually rested at her left hip, Alice looked at her. "Your gear is in the back."

Rain gave a quick nod and moved between the seats and into the back. Alice could hear her shuffling around as she located and loaded weapons. She had just turned back from watching Rain strap a shoulder harness with the .357 under her arm when a barricade in the road took her by surprise.

Alice slammed on the brakes and jerked the steering wheel hard to the left. She heard Rain curse as she was tossed across the open back along with some of their supplies.

"What the fuck," Rain cursed.

Alice steered the Humvee down over a steep hill as Rain continued to rustle in the back. What she said next took Alice by surprise.

"Where's the antivirus? Did you leave it back at the house?"

"I don't know Rain. It wouldn't have helped your brother; he was too far gone."

Alice's foot eased off the accelerator and she turned to look at Rain. Her mind ranged back to the last time she had seen the silver case. She hadn't seen it since the mansion when she had tried to inject Matt.

"I know that, Alice. I'm just sayin'."

"I don't know. I don't remember seeing it since we left the…" Alice's voice trailed off. She was beginning to realize there was a major gap in her memory and it chilled her especially since the gap was so easily filled with the nightmare of the needles and the man in the lab coat.

"What aren't you telling me?" Rain voice was cold and her hand caught Alice's shoulder as she pushed between the seats.

"I don't know, Rain," Alice's voice was earnest. "I can't remember all of it. It's like from the time you shot Matt until…" Alice stopped unable to recall any other details. "What do you remember?"

"All I remember was laying in the wet grass and you… standing…over…me," Rain was looking from side to side out the narrow windows of the Humvee at houses and cars as they drove slowly down a residential street. "Where the… hell…?"

Once again Alice was taken by surprise. She swerved to miss a small group of undead that lurched onto the street at the sound of the Humvee. Once they had passed that obstacle, she jammed on the brakes and swerved again as the vehicle narrowly missed an overturned car at the end of the street. Rain was catapulted forward and into the dash as Alice took the Humvee up over the curb and onto the sidewalk. When Alice took a hard right onto an open street, an off balance Rain found herself head first on the floor below the passenger's seat. When she was able to pull herself up, she stared in astonishment at the landscape around them.

They were no longer on a country road.

"How did we…?" Rain's head swiveled to look at a large stone church as they passed. "This is East Scottsburg! How did you…?"

Alice had no reply she was too busy dodging dead cars where they sat unmoving in the street and undead people that walked on the street and on the sidewalks. They had somehow found their way onto the main street of a town.

"Oh, shit!" Ahead of the Humvee was a solid barrier in the middle of the main street. Alice eased the vehicle to a stop in front of it her eyes nervously taking in the gathering horde of undead that was slowly surrounding them.

The street was completely blocked. Cars had been pushed on to their sides and, along with several trucks and vans they blockaded the street from one storefront to the other. Ahead of them were bodies scattered around haphazardly. The greatest concentrations were close to the two places where the barrier seemed to have been breached. There was a gap between two cars and a cube van with "Evacuation point" spray painted in red had been partially ripped apart.

"This is where they went, this is where…" Rain's eyes were huge as she gazed at the barrier. All sorts of material was, or had been, piled on top of the cars to make the barricade as tall as possible. There were tables, appliances, wooden crates and wire.

"…they made their last stand." Alice finished Rain's sentence.

"Damn." Rain had barely gotten the word out of her mouth when an undead, his grisly jaw hanging loose from his face, slammed both fists into the driver's side of the vehicle.

"We have to get out of here, now!" Rain swiveled back and forth in her seat trying to see a way out.

"Get on the gun!" Alice ordered as she threw the Humvee in reverse.

Rain stared at her companion incredulously. "These people are…"

"They are not your neighbours any more," Alice said slowly and with as much authority as she could muster. "Given the chance they will eat us alive."

"Alright!" Rain jammed herself between the seats and fumbled around for an ammo box. Once she had her hands on a belt of the 5.56 rounds, she pushed open the hatch and stood up.

The undead had surrounded the Humvee. Alice was backing up and pulling forward jerkily as she tried to perform a three point turn away from the barrier.

Her hands shaking, Rain loaded the M240 machine gun. Something brushed her back pulling on her vest. Throwing a hard right elbow over her shoulder Rain felt it connect with something that made a sickening crack. Unable to swivel the big gun around fast enough, Rain pulled her .45 and took out the handful of undead who had crawled on the back of the Humvee. Each of them was dispatched with a neat headshot. When she turned back forward it was the same situation. One of the undead was directly over the windshield on the driver's side and it took Rain several shots before it was knocked off.

The Humvee surged forward and Rain was jammed into the butt of the gun as she changed magazines on her pistol. As Alice finally completed the turn and the vehicle was pointed back down the main street, Rain had a clear line of fire. She shoved the .45 in the front of her pants and, pulling the machine gun against her shoulder, she opened up.

Grimacing at what she was doing, Rain aimed high. "I guess you're getting what you always thought I'd do to you," she mumbled as what had once been the people of the town where she had gone to school, shopped and went to church were mowed down in a barrage of high velocity fire.

Leaning backwards with her pistol in her left hand, Rain finished off the few undead that managed to cling to the back of the lurching Humvee. Alice could do little to avoid the bodies that were piling up in front of them. She just drove over them.

Rain continued to fire in short bursts as Alice steered down the center of the main street. If the zombies were not killed a second time outright, they were at least knocked aside.

"Turn right!" Rain kicked at Alice's shoulder. "Turn here!"

Alice accelerated and, with a jerk of the steering wheel, narrowly avoided a burned out car as she sent the Humvee barreling down a side street. Rain was doing all she could to hold on as she slowly became aware of a thumping noise behind them.

Sure it was a blown out tire, she craned her neck and upper body trying to see. There was no sign of loose rubber and the vehicle seemed to be driving smoothly down the open, uncluttered street.

It wasn't until Rain looked up that she was able to identify the sound.

Above them and slightly behind, was a black helicopter. Rain was just trying to take in its presence, her jaw slack, when a second helicopter came into sight hovering low at the end of the street where they had just turned.

"Behind us," Rain began kicking at Alice's seat.

"What?"

Looking down, Rain could see Alice shifting around so she could see out the side mirrors. When she ducked down and was able to get a view out the right side, Rain saw Alice freeze.

"Umbrella," Alice turned and looked up and back so her eyes met Rain's. "They found us."

The Humvee had been moving along at little more than an idle as Alice looked at the helicopters. With a grunt, Alice swung the vehicle to the left and stomped the accelerator. They shot down a long driveway and out onto a grassy lawn. Rain had turned to watch the second helicopter as it dipped its nose to follow them and when she turned back to the front, she had no time to react as Alice crashed the Humvee through an old wooden fence and down into a shallow ditch.

Before she could get an arm up to protect her head, one of the shattered fence boards caught her a glancing but sharp blow to her left temple. Rain felt her legs go weak as she slumped in the turret. After that, everything went black.

**A bit later**

The thundering and turbulence of a helicopter taking off drew Rain slowly back to consciousness. She could feel the ground solid under her back, could smell grass. Her head throbbed and she could feel sticky blood on her face. When she became aware of a shuffling of feet close by she kept her eyes closed and lay still.

Gradually the sound of the helicopter that was making all the racket subsided enough for Rain to take in other noises around her. Another helicopter was idling nearby but not close enough that she couldn't make out several male voices.

"Sounded like he was happy we got her, the blond one," one voice said.

"Yeah? What about this one? Take her back too?" another voice asked.

"Nah," Rain felt a kick to her knee. "She's disposable. He doesn't care about her."

"Oh, yeah? Disposable, huh?" Rain really didn't like the gleeful tone to his voice.

"We don't have time for that," the first voice said sharply. "Those damn zombies are coming this way."

There was a pause in the conversation as the two men seemed to turn away. Rain quickly opened her eyes trying to take in as much as she could in a few short seconds.

Two men in black tactical gear stood a few yards from Rain with the black helicopter a good dozen yards beyond them. Farther on Rain recognized the brick outline of her former high school. Moving around the school parking lot, and indeed headed their way, were more undead than Rain could count.

She shut her eyes again as the two men began to turn back.

"So let's get this over with and get back to the base," the first voice again.

"You're sure we don't have just a little bit of time?" the leering second voice.

When he gave Rain a sharp kick to her ribs she couldn't help but grunt.

"Ah, awake are you?" When Rain opened her eyes the first man was standing over her holding an MP5. "Get her on her feet." When he moved back the second man grabbed her by her vest and hauled her roughly toward him.

He held her close for long enough that she had little doubt what he'd like to be doing with her. He then released her and stepped back.

Rain stood uneasily and somewhat unsteadily as she watched the first Umbrella guard sling his submachine gun and draw his pistol. Looking down Rain settled her feet and tried to calm her breathing.

"Get on your knees, girl," Rain heard the slide of the automatic pistol rake back and then forward ominously.

Slowly she raised her eyes.


	8. Without You

A/N: Sorry for the long break between the posting of this chapter and the previous one. I hope you are still reading and enjoying this. Alice …. P/S It never hurts to let me know ;-)

**Chapter 8: Without You**

For just a moment before she let her eyes go unfocussed and her posture slump, Rain took in the scene around her. Back by the helicopter one of the pilots stood impatiently hands on hips. The rotor was turning slowly as the black machine with the colourful Umbrella logo on its tail sat ready to leave. The first guard was only a few feet in front of her. His MP5, a weapon she loved and was so familiar with, was slung at his right hip. In his hand he held an automatic pistol. The second guard, the one that wanted more personal time with Rain, stood a few yards back. He looked as impatient as the pilot.

Dialing back the fierce glare she was famous for, Rain feigned unconsciousness. Letting her knees bend she dropped her head and shoulders forward.

As she hoped, the Umbrella guard took the bait.

With a grunt he moved forward handgun held high at her head level. When he was close enough Rain made her move. Thrusting upward from her bent knees she jammed her shoulder under his gun arm setting him off balance. With both hands she grabbed for his MP5 as she tangled one leg between his. Pulling him backward with her as she fell she jammed one elbow hard under his chin. Her right hand found the safety and trigger of the submachine gun and, as he fell on top of her, she flicked off the safety and squeezed the trigger.

A hail of 9mm rounds spurted from under the guard's left arm as he squirmed to get free. Her elbow still in his face and her back on his gun arm, he was unable to avoid the rounds that cut into the flesh under his arm just above his Kevlar vest. Rain saw the spurt of blood and directed the submachine gun further away from him.

Bits of dirt and grass were kicked up at the feet of the second guard as he moved toward the two struggling on the ground. Before he could raise his weapon, the MP5 rounds moved up his legs and torso like stitching. As he fell back, Rain had a clear shot at the helicopter.

She tried to hold the weapon steady as the windshield shattered. The helicopter roared the rotors picking up speed as the wounded pilot slumped in his seat. The other pilot, the one who had been standing beside the machine, had no chance to get clear as the helicopter lifted several feet off the ground and the tail began to rotate toward him. He tried to duck under the tail but the chopper began to cant dangerously and the tail rotor swiped him.

A fine mist of blood fogged the air around the still turning tail. As the helicopter turned, the main rotor tilted toward the ground and the big, black machine bore down on Rain and the man she was struggling with. With a last desperate effort as the rotor churned a path of chopped dirt and grass toward them, Rain flipped the man over so the bulk of his body protected her.

She heard and felt the tip of the rotor cut into his back and through his Kevlar vest. When he went limp, Rain pushed off him and rolled clear of the devastation. With a tremendous clanking and cracking, the helicopter settled on its side. The engine continued to roar until with a bang and a puff of black smoke it finally subsided.

In the silence that followed Rain took stock. The man she had struggled with was dead. He lay on his side facing her, his dull eyes staring and a trickle of blood seeping from his nose. Rain crawled forward and took the Glock pistol from his limp hand. Slowly she looked over the cover of his body trying to locate the others. The second guard was nowhere in sight and a mess of blood soaked clothing showed where the pilot had fallen when hit by the tail rotor.

Not far to her left, near the indent in the grass where she had lain unconscious, Rain could see the weapons they had taken from her. Before she gathered them and replaced them where they belonged on her body, she took the MP5 and a couple spare magazines from the dead Umbrella guard.

Holding the reloaded MP5, she circled the downed helicopter. Inside the shattered glass of the cockpit, the pilot rested against the side unmoving. When she moved around to the other side of the chopper Rain found where the second guard had fallen.

He was pinned under the chopper, the skid across his middle. When he saw her he began to struggle with renewed vigour.

"Get me outta here!" his head swiveled from her to the group of undead that were still approaching from the direction of the school.

Rain could see no weapons on him. If he carried a pistol, it was trapped out of his reach below where the skid held him hard against the ground. His legs seemed useless pinned as they were and pocked with bullet holes. Even if she had wanted to free him, he probably would not survive.

As she moved slowly closer Rain could see and smell fuel soaking the ground under the helicopter. She could feel the heat from the still smoking engine.

"Those things are getting closer," the trapped man pounded the skid in frustration. "Get me out of here before they…"

"Before they what?" Rain did not hold back her scorn. "Eat you alive?" She stared down at the man where her lay directly under her. He grabbed ineffectually at her boot. "Maybe they will rape you first. But, you know what I'm thinking?" Rain reached into the cabin of the chopper and pulled out a black gear bag. Inside were several boxes of ammo and more magazines for her new MP5.

"I'm thinking they might get to have themselves a little Umbrella barbeque," Rain stepped back and gestured to the torn side of the helicopter where flames had just appeared.

Turning his head, the guard could see them too.

"You wouldn't…"

"I might."

The guard's already pale face lost the last of its colour.

Dropping to one knee beside him but out of reach, Rain pulled the Glock from her waist band. She knew she didn't have much time; the horde of undead were making their way across the long soccer field and would reach the chopper in only minutes.

"How about this? You tell me where they took Alice – where this base of yours is - and I don't put a bullet in your head."

"I can't move my legs! There's no way I can out run them," again he pounded on the skid as he looked from the horde to Rain.

"Yeah, that's a bit of a problem, isn't it?" Rain leaned back as if to stand and leave him.

"Wait!" he grabbed at the grass near her knee. "I'll tell you where they took her just don't leave me to them."

Rain sighed. "You know you're not getting out of here alive." His pale, terrified face told her he knew this was true. "You tell me where they took her and I'll leave you this," Rain ejected the magazine from the handgun and checked that there was one round still chambered. "You can blow your own brains out before you become zombie barbeque."

"Alright! Give me the gun."

"Where?" Rain stood up and started to back away; the undead were close and she still had to back track to find the Humvee and make her own escape. The last thing she remembered was driving down Northampton Street and crashing through the Petersen's back fence.

"Umbrella is setting up a base, a research facility," he twitched his fingers, his eyes on the gun. "Give it to me!"

Rain dropped the pistol in the grass where he could reach it if he made a huge effort.

Both of them could now hear the undead horde shuffling as they got closer.

"About 15 miles west of here," there was a pop and the flames burst from the chopper and began burning downward and into the grass. With a grunt and a jerk of his upper body, the Umbrella guard got his fingertips on the Glock.

"Where?" Rain stepped forward and put her toe down on the barrel of the handgun.

"Let me…" the flames and the undead were getting even closer. "There's an old mine in the side of a mountain." Rain eased her foot up just a bit. "They said it used to be a gold mine."

With another supreme effort, the guard pulled the Glock from under Rain's foot. Putting it to his temple he grinned at her. "Like you can find it!" he said just before pulling the trigger.

"Like I can." The undead were only yards away when Rain turned and began to jog away. There was another louder pop behind her and the helicopter became consumed in flames. Rain gave a glance over her shoulder. The horde was on the other side of the fire, no longer advancing.

"Hope you like it rare."

**A few minutes later**

The Humvee was right where Rain thought it would be. The two front wheels were jammed down in a ditch a few yards from the shattered back fence of the house of one of her high school band mates. It had been the perfect place for an ambush as the Petersen's back yard bordered on the high school field where Umbrella had landed their helicopters.

The driver's side door of the Humvee was open and in the grass below the door and near the side of the vehicle Rain could see spots of blood. Something else caught her eye and she crouched down to pick up what looked like a tranquilizer dart. As she turned it over in her hand, she thought the thing reminded her of something she might see on a TV nature show. Near the front of the Humvee was a second one. Alice did not go down easy.

Whispering a silent prayer the keys were still in the ignition, Rain slid into the driver's seat. They were. Before she started the engine, Rain located some wet wipes and the first aid kit. Leaving them within reach she turned over the engine and, jamming the big four wheel drive in reverse, backed out of the ditch.

Skirting the edge of the high school property, she avoided the center of town and headed for a less populated street that would take her back toward the country road that led to her family's home. As she drove she wiped the blood from her face and smiled to herself. There was no way the Umbrella guard could have known she was from this area and knew it intimately.

The old gold mine he had told her about so smugly was a place she knew very well. She and her brothers had explored it many times and she knew a secret way in.

**Hours Later**

Taking a slow, deep breath Rain tried to calm her nerves. Anxiety was rippling through her body leaving her chest tight and her hands shaky.

_Why is it that without you I'm such a mess?_

As she sat in the Humvee breathing slowly and clenching her hands into fists, Rain was coming to the conclusion that having Alice around was the one thing that was holding her together and giving her existence meaning.

_I never thought I would need someone to make things right with me. Always I depended on myself to get by. Maybe that's what my father really meant when he called me stubborn. For me, I just thought I was making him notice me and not focus so much on my brothers. I would, and could, do anything my brothers did. I didn't lag behind, I was always out front._

Rain closed her eyes and flexed her fingers over her thighs. When she opened her eyes again the sunlight shining through the broken boards of the old barn and across the field beyond had shifted slightly. It was now late afternoon and she was waiting for the sun to drop behind the mountain to her left before she approached the secret entrance to the mine.

_Waiting and stressing…_

The field in front of her was overgrown with thigh high grass and weeds. She knew from experience it was also rocky and uneven. Barely visible near the top of a slight hill were the remains of a house and another barn. Years ago this land had been a farm. To her right where the road led back into the woods the way she had come, was a rock wall that snaked through the trees then out into the field. To the left was a shallow, marshy lake, more like a pond now. The road that she would follow up the mountain crossed in front of her and disappeared into the woods between the end of the lake and where the old house had stood.

When she was sixteen she had camped just off the road at the edge of the woods – by herself. The excursion was precipitated by an argument with her brothers. They had said lots of things that started with _'You can't,'_ or _'You wouldn't.'_ Rain had simply set her jaw and gone to gather her gear. They were still laughing when she rode off on her dirt bike.

Those two dark nights alone made her realize that she could manage by herself depending only on her own wits. The experience had made her stronger, but now she realized something else. Even if she could make it alone, she didn't necessarily need to or want to.

_At the end of the nightmares there is Alice. Now she's gone and the only way to get her back is to stuff this fear and be strong. She's all I have and without her…_

On her first night alone in her little pup tent in this field Rain had woken with a start. A noise, her brain was telling her, yet it was silent and still now. As she thought about what the sound could have been, fear and anxiety began to creep up her spine and she found herself lying absolutely still almost unable to breathe for the thought that whatever was out there would hear her.

A Screech Owl, not a monster.

The memory began to calm her and she felt herself smiling. There was nothing to be scared of here.

Rain got out of the Humvee and moved carefully through the remains of the barn to the side where a battered door stood open facing the shallow end of the lake. The water was high nearly drowning the low bushes that gave the field and farm its name.

"_We're going up to Cranberry Tom's," her brother Perry said as he put a case of beer in the back of the pickup truck._

"_I know, I'm coming."_

"_There's monsters up there," Tory came around the front of the truck and ambushed Rain where she stood by the passenger door. "You sure you want to go?"_

"_You sure you want to? I'm the one that spent two nights up there alone last year, you know," Rain ducked away from Tory's jabs._

_Perry was smirking as her got in the driver's side. "Our brave sister! What are you going to do tonight? Strip your clothes off and run through the woods?"_

"_Yer an ass," Rain wasn't looking at him as she settled in the middle between her brothers. Tory's playful teasing had never bothered her but Perry's derision irritated her. He never failed to get under her skin. _

"_I dare you to," Tory gave Rain a shove with his shoulder as the truck bounced over a bump at the end of the driveway and turned onto the road._

_Rain only glared at him._

When the sun finally dipped below the mountain, Rain made her preparations. She checked each of her weapons: The .45 and .357 handguns, the MP5 and the various knives she had stashed on her body. When she was done, she checked everything again.

Anxiety was a dull knot of queasiness in her belly as she backed the Humvee out of the barn and started out across the field. At the edge of the trees she took a deep breath and gunned the vehicle up over a muddy hill then down through the stream on the other side.

The trees closed in around the rough track as she began to climb upward. After about fifteen minutes of slogging she came to a small level meadow where she backed the Humvee in under the trees a few yards off the road.

In front of her the road curved away from the base of the mountain and meandered off to the west. In the center of the meadow was a fire-blackened stone circle.

"_I dare you to!"_

"_No problem," Rain huffed as she looked down at Tory sitting by the blazing fire. The other teenagers hushed their chatter to look at her. _

"_You have to bring something back to prove you were there," Tory challenged._

"_Like one of those rusty chain links," Perry elaborated from where he sat on the other side of the fire. _

"_No problem," Rain said again this time more forcefully._

"_And no flashlight."_

_Rain dropped the flashlight she had been holding low and nearly out of sight in her right hand. Without another word, she turned away from Perry's smirk and Tory's grin and headed away from the fire's bright light toward the dark path that led up the rocky side of the mountain to the craggy summit and the secret entrance._

Standing at the edge of the meadow Rain put one foot onto the very same path.

_I did this once and I'll do it again and this time the dark is the least of my worries. She probably thinks I don't need her – that I won't come – that I think I'm better off alone, without her. She's wrong. I need her more than anything because without her I would be just waiting for the end and I'm sick of that. I'm making my own endings tonight._


	9. Born This Way

_A/N: So here's chapter 9 finally. Sorry for the super long delay. Thanks as always to all those who take time to review. My thanks as well for all the faves and the alerts you guys have on this story. Rain1657, I think you'll like a certain part of this chapter ;-) Alice …._

**Chapter 9: Born This Way**

It was exactly where Rain remembered it and exactly _how_ she remembered it.

Ducking into a crouch, she ran the last couple of yards across the open rocks. Beside the entrance hole was a low overhang partially obscured by dead vines and roots. Rain pushed the vegetation aside and slipped inside the refuge.

For the last few minutes she had been hearing the sound of a helicopter coming from the other side of the mountain. She had no doubt Umbrella was now on the hunt for her. She also had little doubt Umbrella's high tech tools would spot her easily if they managed to train their heat sensors the right way. So far they had managed to miss her as they circled back and forth from the mine entrance to the town.

When the helicopter receded again, Rain let out a breath. Her head was throbbing where she had been struck by the fence board. She poured cool water from her canteen onto a tattered bandana and pressed it to her temple. As she breathed slowly the pain eased.

After a few minutes relaxing Rain began to explore the crevice with her hands. She found the old rope ladder first and then the old rusty chain. Running her fingers along the links she smiled to herself. Her brother Perry had never expected her to make it to the mine let alone bring back a chain link as proof.

_Underestimate me and see where it gets you…_

A flat rock hid the mine shaft opening almost entirely. After a few more minutes of silence, Rain wiggled out of her hiding place dragging the rope and chain with her. Carefully she pulled back the rock until enough of the hole was exposed to allow her to slip in. A few feet from the opening an iron hook had been driven into the rock. This was where had they secured the rope ladder on her previous visits and Rain felt no need to do anything different. The hook still felt solid as she tied off the rope and dropped the coiled end into the hole. Hopefully the old rope would hold her weight.

Rain paused on the brink for a moment to check her gear. Her pockets bulged with two grenades each so she took out two and placed them in a crevice next to the hole. They might be very useful when, and if, she came back out this way. Taking a last look around at the late evening twilight, she lowered herself into the shaft.

The drop was nearly vertical and narrow. Rain moved her MP5 around to her chest and wiggled down the shaft bracing her feet on the rope ladder and her back to the rock behind her. After about 20 feet her boots brushed the bottom of the shaft. Crouching in the low crevice she let herself breath. The flat smell of damp rock was laced with a few other smells she didn't at first recognize. The first was an industrial smell like warm oil mixed with fresh lumber. The second made her stomach growl.

_Food! This was the right place for sure._

Rain covered the beam of her flashlight with her hand as she flicked it on. Slowly opening her fingers she looked around. She should be on the flat spot in the tiny cave between two more tunnels one that angled down and away to the north and one that went steeply, though less narrowly down to the south. Her flashlight picked out only rocks where the northern tunnel should have been, but the southern shaft was open and out of it came a slight breeze.

Moving forward on her butt, Rain pointed her feet down the sloping tunnel and began a slow, careful descent. The shaft widened as it went deeper and just before it opened into the next natural cave, turned to the left. When she felt the opening with her toes, Rain paused and listened. There was no sound other than a soft dripping of water. Shifting her body she put her head through the opening. She could see nothing, just solid blackness met her eyes. Chancing her flashlight, Rain panned the beam around the cave. The floor below her glistened with pooled water she guessed to be about ankle deep. The recent heavy rain must have caused a partial flood.

As quietly as she could, Rain let her legs slide down from the shaft until she dropped into the water with a soft plop. Shuffling across the cave to the wall directly across from the shaft she had just come through, she reached out with her hands. There was a narrow crevice that led into one of the older abandoned shafts of the mine proper. The passage was so narrow that, as they grew older, her brothers had a hard time fitting through it to the point where Perry, the biggest of the three, eventually was left behind.

Rain sighed when her fingers found the opening. Rearranging her gear again, she took a step up and began to creep sideways through the narrow crack. There was a gentle upward slant to the crevice and she could feel water trickling over her boots. The air became fresher the farther along she went until after about 35 feet her right hand found open air. Sidestepping out of the crack Rain crouched.

For a time she was still listening to the soft movement of water and breathing in the various smells with her sensitive nose. She was facing what she remembered to be a long down sloping shaft; and it was up that shaft the slight breeze that was tickling her cheeks was coming from.

Taking her flashlight out again, she muted the beam and panned behind her. As she'd remembered, the mine shaft ended here-an unfinished spur that had been intended to eventually exit the mountain on the eastern face where she'd come in. There were narrow gauge rails below her and at her left elbow, an old cart sat half derailed waiting for a load of rock that would never come. What it had seen were fearless teenagers who would ride down the shaft like Indiana Jones stuntmen. It had been dangerous and fun. Grinning to herself, Rain touched her thigh where she still bore a scar from one of their derailments.

Flicking the flashlight to its red beam setting, Rain started down the mine shaft staying close to the left wall. Her footsteps were almost soundless even in the silence of the mine. After about 50 yards, she began to perceive a faint light in front of her. Rain clicked her flashlight off and proceeded cautiously letting her shoulder against the side wall guide her.

When she was about 10 yards away, she realized she was looking at light spilling into the shaft from an opening ahead. Drawing her .45, she moved closer and peaked around the corner.

A new shaft had been cut to the left to join the old shaft she was in. The light was from a string of bulbs hung from the ceiling that led back up the shaft. There was no one there and nothing moved. Rain proceeded in, the .45 leading the way.

To either side of the new shaft were piles of lumber, plywood, tools and electrical cables. This shaft was still under construction – recent construction – and saved Rain the bother of wandering around the old mine looking for a way into Umbrella's facility.

_Lucky break number one…_

The passage ended in a closed steel door. Rain pressed her ear to it and held her breath as she listened. Nothing; or maybe a faint sound of machinery - air conditioning maybe. Closing her hand around the cool steel of the door's handle, Rain pushed slowly down as she pulled the door back. With nary a squeak of protest the door opened easily.

_Lucky break number two…_

With the door open just enough to get her head through, Rain peeked around. What was on the other side of the door looked more like a sterile hospital hall or a lab corridor. This was Umbrella for sure.

She was looking out into the bright, white corridor from a sort of alcove. Slipping completely through the door, Rain closed it behind her before moving forward toward the hallway. The alcove where the door was set allowed her to peek out into the main passage without fully exposing herself.

The first thing she noticed when she looked to her right was a surveillance camera mounted high on the wall where it could oversee the junction of this corridor and another that intersected it at 90 degrees. Rain ducked back catching her breath before peering out more slowly. From the base of the camera a disconnected wire hung limply.

_Lucky break number three…_

Peeking out again Rain looked to her left. The corridor ended about 15 feet away in a wall of glass that stretched away to the right down another adjoining hall. Right at the end of the hall, up against the glass was a small table. On top of the table was a yellow hardhat and several blueprint rolls.

Moving quickly out of the alcove Rain approached the table. As she got closer she realized what the glass enclosed was not a lab or office but a sort of huge tank. The liquid on the other side of the glass swirled darkly as Rain stared in fascination. With a quick look down at the table, she closed her hand around the roll of blueprints.

A sudden sharp movement in the liquid caused Rain to jump back in surprise. Something black brushed the glass slimy and smooth. As Rain backed up the water frothed and whatever it was pressed against the glass.

Bile rose in Rain's throat as a pair of red, bulbous eyes looked out at her framed by two hands – paws? Flippers? – with what looked like sucker pads on the ends of its ugly fingers.

Ducking back into the alcove, Rain held the rolled plans against her chest and tried to calm her heartbeat.

Yet another Umbrella mutant lurked behind the glass wall of the tank she had no doubt. The thought just made her even more determined to rescue Alice and put a stop to Umbrella.

Unrolling the building plan Rain quickly oriented herself. The corridor in front of her lead to what Umbrella was calling "Experimentation Tank 1". The door behind her was meant to connect to what was marked as "Proposed Experimentation Tank 2".

_Fuckers_, Rain thought of the grenades she had left behind. _Maybe a small nuke would be better…_

The complex built into the old gold mine was made up of three levels Rain determined as she perused the building plans. The top level, one above where she was now, seemed to be made up of offices and living quarters. The middle level appeared to be more offices, labs and 'experimentation' areas.

_Yuck…_

Rain scanned the last sheet and put her finger on an area called 'Human Lab' located on the far west end of the lowest level near the main entrance to the complex. That had to be where they were keeping Alice. The Human Lab was one level down and all the way on the other side of the old mine.

In the middle of the complex was a central stairwell. On the center level, just opposite the stairway, was a room indicated as Central Security. From where she was now, there was no way down to the lower level without passing security.

Discarding the plan for the upper level, Rain folded the other two and jammed them inside her shirt. Taking a deep breath and holding her .45 firmly in her right hand, Rain stepped out into the corridor and started towards the main part of the complex away from the glass wall. She knew she would have to have faith that any other security cameras would be in a similar condition to the one just in front of her.

At the apex of the connecting hall and the two more that she encountered, Rain paused and checked for movement or sound. There was nothing until she reached the cross corridor just before the security office.

Rain slipped across the junction and pressed herself against the wall. Lowering herself down almost to the floor, she peered down the hall. About 10 yards away, right about where she assumed the security station was, a man moved into the hall.

"…heard that too," he was saying to someone out of sight. "They radioed in there was two."

A voice Rain couldn't make out said something that ended in the lilt of a question.

"That's what they're thinking since it will take some time to go through all the wreckage."

_Talking about me are you? Don't know if I'm alive or dead? Not the first time that's happened. _

"C'mon, the hell with that. Half the shit around here doesn't work anyway. Let's get some chow."

As Rain watched, a second man joined the first in the corridor where together they crossed to the stairs and headed up. Sensing her chance, Rain slipped out into the corridor and moved along at a crouch down the left hand wall. An open door and a bank of windows indicated she had found the security station. Peeking into the window Rain tried to take in the security monitors as quickly as she could. The task was not so hard considering the number working and showing an image, was far outnumbered by the ones showing a blank screen.

There was a view of a large open chamber with various vehicles that was most likely the main entrance, a view of a corridor with a few people moving around wearing lab coats, and a last view that caught and held her attention. On one of the larger monitors was a view of what looked to Rain like a hospital ward.

The lighting was dim in the large room. No one moved although Rain could see someone sitting at a desk in front of the one occupied bed. The room seemed half finished. To the left was a large wooden crate and equipment seemed to be placed haphazardly. Rain concentrated her full attention on the bed and was able to make out a spill of dark blond hair across the pillow and large feet sticking out the end of the sheet.

_Alice! I'm gonna get those motherfuckers! I'm gonna kill every last one of them! I'm gonna… OK stop talking about it and let's get doing it. _

Still in a half crouch Rain scampered across to the stairs and headed down. At the bottom of the steps she snuck a look around the stair rail and out into the corridor. Nothing moved to the left but down the hall to the right where she expected the lab holding Alice was located, a woman in a white lab coat moved away from her at an unhurried pace.

Without thinking much about it, Rain moved out into the corridor. Staying against the left wall again she moved as fast as she could after the woman in the distance. Rain was only four or five paces behind her when the woman turned into a connecting corridor to the left. Directly in front of both of them was a bank of windows that stretched down the main corridor and made a 90 degree turn into the left hallway.

Inside the large room beyond the windows was the hospital room Rain had seen on the monitors. Rain paused at the junction behind the woman who was pulling an ID card from her waist. She extended the card and waved it in front of a security pad to the right of a door that led into the big room. The light on the pad flashed green and the door began to slide aside.

Holding her breath Rain moved quietly forward. The woman proceeded through the door without a backward glance, Rain only steps behind her. Across the room, the woman who was sitting at the desk in front of Alice's bed began to turn her head at the sound of the door opening. Rain made a quick move to her left and crouched behind a cart of equipment. When the two women began to speak in low tones, Rain moved closer until she was next to the crate she had seen on the monitor. She was about 20 feet from Alice's hospital bed and just a little farther from the nurse's desk.

Shift change, Rain was able to determine when the woman at the desk, stood, stretched, and smiled at the woman relieving her before exiting through another door on the far side of Alice's bed.

Taking a minute to gaze around, Rain located the security camera that had been displaying an image on the monitor in the security office. It was nearly opposite her in the center of the room and just far enough back that if someone were monitoring right at this moment they might be able to see her crouching by the crate. Backing up slowly, she moved to the back of the crate and smiled to herself when she saw it was open. As quietly as she could she slipped inside. There was just enough room for her to sit without having her head hit the enclosed top. Spotting a knot hole at about eye level, Rain shifted until she could see both the nurse's station and Alice's bed.

_So far so good, now I wait for the right moment, sneak out, disable the camera, get Alice and get out of here. No problem, too easy…_

The _get out of here_ part was the complete unknown and Rain tried hard not to dwell on it. She concentrated instead on the part that she did know and could control – how easy it would be to slip across the room, bump aside the security camera and grab the nurse from behind in a choke hold. Once she was unconscious, all that was left was to grab Alice and get her up.

The impatient part of her had an intense urge to get this plan under way _right now_. The logical part of her knew the longer she waited the more likely the lack of activity and the dim lighting would start to affect the woman at the desk and hopefully cause her to become drowsy. She would be far easier to take out then and far less likely to raise an alarm.

Rain settled more comfortably resting her back against the side of the crate. Her mind began to wander and she had a strange thought of how funny it would have been if she and Tory and Perry had found the Umbrella complex years ago when exploring the old mine.

_Perry would make a good Umbrella experiment. Maybe one of those red-eyed things in that tank... _

Thinking of Perry brought her mind to the last time she had seen him and it wasn't such a great memory. She had been home on a short leave from training with the special ops group at Umbrella.

_Rain scooted closer to the 50'" flat screen TV in her parents' basement her hands unconsciously clutching her beer bottle tighter. _

"_Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!" Tory was practically bouncing on the couch beside her his enthusiasm far more evident._

"…_and in tonight's co-main event…"_

_Out of the corner of her eye Rain spotted Perry appear at the bottom of the stairs to the basement rec room. She ignored him concentrating on the TV. _

"_What's on?" Perry demanded as he moved toward his siblings and Rain could tell from the slight slur of his words that he had been drinking. _

"_Fighting, man. Shut the hell up!" Tory answered barely sparing a glance at Perry. _

_Rain sucked in a breath as her favourite fighter (and Tory's too since they continued to tussle over in who's room Gina's poster should hang) trotted out looking loose and ready to go._

Gawd, she looks hot in her cornrows!_ Rain's mind fuzzed over for a moment. _

"_That's that hottie you two are so into, isn't it?" Perry asked moving closer to the TV. "If there were more hot chicks like her fighting I'd watch more often," Perry leered at the TV._

_Rain and Tory pointedly ignored him Rain moving slightly to see around Perry's bulk. _

"…_and fighting out of the blue corner and weighing in at one hundred forty five…"_

_Perry stopped the uncoordinated shadow boxing he had been doing behind the couch to stare at the TV again. _

"_She's fighting a man?"_

"_She's not a man you dim wit…" Rain tried to correct him but Perry ignored her moving close to the TV again._

"_Well she's some damn ugly chick then! No wonder no one watches the girls' fighting…"_

_Tory threw a handful of popcorn at his brother. "Shut the fuck up, Perry! You're just a dumb ass and no one cares what you think! Move it!"_

_Rain stood up to see around Perry as on the screen the ref was giving last minute instructions to the two fighters. _

"_Do you think they're both dykes? I think they are," Perry shifted back and forth in front of the TV, "'cause only lesbians fight, right?"_

_Rain felt her blood begin to boil at Perry's antics yet she held her temper, at least for now._

_Perry was leering at the TV again. "This sport really needs more pretty girls for sure."_

"_Fuck off, Pussy," Rain and Tory said together using the nickname they reserved for when Perry was at his most annoying._

_On the TV the shot moved in close on the fighters as they stood in the center of the cage. _

"…_touch gloves if you want to and…" the ref's voice was saying._

"_She's not so hot but I'd still totally f…"_

_DING_

_As the bell sounded to start round one Rain launched herself off the couch at her brother Perry. She grabbed him in a tackle driving him away from the TV yet his bulky build kept her from taking him down. Her mind on automatic she caught his right arm tight and with a lightning fast move flipped herself over onto her back with a thump that nearly knocked the TV off its stand._

"_Flying armbar, flying armbar!" Tory stood beer bottle in one hand popcorn in the other his eyes no longer on the TV. "Tap out Perry, man! She'll bust yer arm!"_

_Still on overdrive and full of intense irritation at Perry, Rain continued to wrench her brother's forearm until she felt a grinding then a pop. Perry made a squeak of pain rolling away as Rain stood up and calmly resumed her seat on the couch._

_Tory looked from the TV to Rain to Perry._

"_Mom! Perry needs to go to the hospital! Can you take him? We don't_ _want to miss the fight!"_

Sighing, Rain ran her hand over her hair and pulled at her ponytail. Her father had had a few strong words to say to her the next day about patience and use of force on someone not as skilled as she was. Rain had left without speaking to Perry. By that time her feelings had gone from irritation at her brother to irritation at herself for going too far.

_He's still a jerk for saying what he did about women MMA fighters …_

A fair bit of time had passed since she had hidden in the crate. Looking out the knot hole she noticed Alice moving slightly in her bed. Rain watched as the nurse got up to check Alice's IV and her vitals.

_Patience, Rain, patience,_ she heard her father's voice telling her. Shifting just a bit so she could see out the knot hole and still relax, Rain closed her eyes.

Images floated in her mind of a crowd cheering as she entered the cage, mouth guard in place and smacking her gloves, to the sneer of her opponent.

Time passed and Rain dozed the last thing on her mind her mother's words: _"You are a passionate, strong girl. Right now all you feel is the passion not the strength. But God grant you grace, you will soon know your own strength."_

**Later**

Rain woke with a sudden jolt unable to place where she was. As her mind slowly chugged through all the possibilities she finally arrived at Umbrella facility, wooden crate.

She peered out the knot hole. The nurse was leaning over Alice's bed again. As Rain watched, the woman finished what she was doing, returned to her desk, picked up a coffee mug and exited out the door past Alice's bed.

Rain froze in astonishment. A couple beats went by before she bounded into action. Leaving the crate, she pulled a multi-tool from her vest and moved toward the security camera. Using a chair she was able to reach up from behind it and snip the wire. Maybe they would investigate, maybe not.

Approaching Alice's bed, Rain began whispering her name over and over. Alice's eyes were fluttering when Rain got close.

"Rain?"

"Yeah, it's me. Can you get up? We gotta get outta here fast."

Rain pulled a clearly groggy Alice to a sitting position then turned her so that her legs hung over the side of the bed. Alice's head bobbed. Rain seized the IV line running into Alice's arm and yanked it out.

Alice's eyes fell open in surprise and pain.

"That's better," Rain told her smiling. "Can you stand?"

Alice slipped off the bed and stood unsteadily on her bare feet. She held the sheet around her naked body.

"Girl, I've seen your goods," Rain still reached behind and grabbed at some hospital scrubs in a laundry basket. She helped Alice pull on the shirt and pants and was moving to drape Alice's arm over her shoulder when she heard voices and the door in front of her slid open.

"Well, we were wondering where you were," a cold male voice said, "funny to find you here."

Rain pivoted and met the man's icy eyes.

"I'm Doctor Issacs. You probably don't remember me. We're not as good friends as Alice and I have become." His condescending gaze played over Alice where she stood wobbling beside Rain.

"Yeah, whatever, fucktard, we're leaving," Rain pulled her .45 and aimed it at the doctor ignoring the nurse who stood beside him.

"Come to save your lover, have you?" Issacs raised his eyebrows at Rain's incredulous look. "I told you Alice and I are good friends and she's been confiding a lot in me."

Rain tensed her jaw really not liking the man in front of her.

Alice chose – unfortunately – that moment to faint dead away and flop at Dr Issacs feet. Reaching down, he grabbed her around the neck and yanked her to her feet holding her between himself and Rain. From a stainless steel tray to his right he snapped up a scalpel and held it to Alice's neck.

Rain huffed tightening her grip on her .45 as blood trickled from Alice's neck at the touch of the knife.

"Take the gun from her, "Issacs ordered the nurse gruffly.

"No way, asshole," Rain snorted backing up a step.

"Then it seems we have a dilemma, don't we?" There was no mistaking his condescension.

Rain reached into a pocket of her vest with her left hand and slowly withdrew one of the grenades.

"Maybe not," Rain jutted her jaw. She held the grenade out next to her pistol.

The nurse gave a strangled noise and retreated rapidly through the door.

"Ah I see," Issacs pressed the scalpel harder into Alice's neck. Alice was trying to catch at his arm now fully awake. "Silly and stupid, you'd kill us all even your lover."

"Don't call me silly," Rain pulled the grenade pin with her teeth. "And you know what? I was born this way, what's it to you?"

Rain could see Alice smile slightly at her words.

"Just unnatural, is all," Issacs shrugged pulling Alice closer.

"And you'd know all about unnatural, that's for sure," Rain tightened her grip on the grenade. She need only open her hand and the handle would pop off and there would be no going back.

Dr Issacs gave Rain a hard smile. "You're not getting out of this, you know that. Now put the pin back in the grenade and put down your weapons like a good girl."

Rain snickered. "I've never been a good girl and I'd rather die right here with you than become one of your experiments." When she moved her eyes to Alice, Rain saw the other woman nod slightly.

Rain spit the pin onto the floor at Issacs' feet. Slowly she began to remove her fingers from around the grenade starting with her little finger.

"Maybe we'll die," Rain's pinky finger stood out straight her ring finger joining it, "maybe we won't. 'Cause you know what?" Her middle finger came off the grenade and she gripped it only with her thumb and index finger. "I have something you don't have and probably can't imagine… faith."

With a last wink at Alice, Rain dropped the grenade.

_So… what happens next? Any guesses? Alice….._


	10. God Gave Me You

**Chapter 10: God Gave Me You**

_Air! Need air! Oh, God I can't breathe. _

_Alice tried to concentrate on the simple action of drawing air into her lungs. There was a crushing pressure on her chest and her head felt like it was swelling up and getting ready to explode. She could see nothing beyond a bright light above her and could feel nothing though she knew she was trying hard to move her arms and legs. _

_Air, please! Open mouth, draw in air…. I can't! _

_Do it! _

_With every ounce of determination she possessed, Alice forced herself to perform the simple act of breathing. After a long second or two of nothing, she felt her lungs inflate with the wondrous thing called air. The pressure on her chest slackened and her head eased as she drew in several deep breaths._

"She's coming around, Doctor."

_The bright light shifted and was partially obscured. When Alice managed to open her eyes, she found herself looking up into a face she recognized – unfortunately._

"_Back with us, are you, Alice," Doctor Isaacs asked, touching her cheek with cool fingertips. As much as she wanted to, Alice could not flinch away from his unwanted touch. "The tranquilizer will wear off eventually," Isaacs smiled coldly, 'though with your new abilities we will probably keep you somewhat sedated. Don't want you busting up the place after all."_

_Alice felt her eyebrows furrow as she tried to force herself to speak. Nothing came out except for a slight squeak._

"_You're wondering about your new abilities?" Again Isaacs smiled. "Oh, yes, you see, the virus has had some unexpected, yet not unwelcome, effects on you, my dear Project Alice."_

_Again he stroked her cheek and Alice felt her skin crawl. The bright light behind him was making her head ache and she felt herself squinting._

"_And some not so nice side-effects," Doctor Isaacs reached out of her view and retrieved a syringe and a vial. The liquid in the vial was a dark purple and Alice watched warily as he began to fill the small syringe about a third full. _

"_This will help with the headaches and other pain you've been experiencing," he began injecting the liquid into a port in her IV line. "I can't give you too much at once; just a bit at a time."_

_Alice followed his hand with her eyes as he replaced the vial and syringe on a stainless steel tray beside her bed. Also on the tray were several other vials. _

_Doctor Isaacs saw her looking and began to touch each one in turn. His voice when he spoke was taunting. "This one, as you know," he touched the vial of purple liquid, "is for helping to stabilize the virus without compromising it's wonderful effects on you." When Alice managed to let out a groan, Isaacs laughed slightly. "Yes, you were infected. Right after you and your soldier-girl managed to escape the Hive. I guess that memory hasn't completely come back to you._

_Isaacs looked at Alice a moment longer before continuing his lecture. _

"_This one," his deft index finger rested on a vial of green, "is the antivirus as you know. I want to have it handy in case your mutations become too much to handle and we have to start over. This one," he touched a vial of pale pinkish liquid, "is for when we are ready to get you back to your usual fighting self so we can begin to test you." _

_Isaacs' smile was truly evil and Alice tried to shift a little closer to the tray and the pink vial hoping that somehow she could get the stuff into her system and get the energy to strangle him. _

"_Ah, not yet," Isaacs sat on the side of Alice's bed and took her limp right hand. "As soon as you start feeling a bit better," he kissed each of her knuckles in turn, "you and I are going to have a chat about what you've been up to since we last parted ways."_

The grenade hit the floor, bounced and rolled under the hospital bed.

Alice noted all this as she was falling forward and colliding hard with Rain. She nearly ended up with the grenade under her body which she thought would have been oddly fitting for some reason.

When Rain had dropped the grenade, Doctor Isaacs had shoved Alice hard into the other woman and bolted for the door behind him. He had managed to make it to the door and was part way through, when, cursing and pushing Alice to the side, Rain began firing random shots at his fleeing form.

Alice rolled away from the .45 spewing shell casings her knee colliding with the long legs of a tray support. The tray tipped and its contents, vials of different coloured liquids, syringes and steel bowls, began raining down on her. A vial of dark purple landed next to her nose and Alice closed her hand around it then reached to corral two others and a syringe that were rolling away from her reach.

"Get down!" Rain shouted and Alice looked over her shoulder in time to see Rain pull the pin on another grenade and toss it toward where Isaacs had fled. Alice's eyes followed the grenade as it sailed through the scattered glass panel of the door and out into the corridor where it bounced off several tall tanks of medical gasses and fell out of her sight.

_Not good…_ Alice thought as Rain covered her with her body.

There was an ear shattering boom and a blast of heat that Alice felt on her exposed legs and feet. After a second, glass, steel and other fragments began raining all over and around them.

Strong hands gripped Alice under her arms and she was pulled to her feet.

"C'mon, let's go!" Rain was shouting in her ear.

Alice wanted to tell Rain that explosion and fire next to the tanks in the hall was probably not a good thing but she didn't have a chance. There was a secondary explosion, bigger than the first, which sent the two women flying across the room where they landed in an uncomfortable heap next to the far wall.

Alice lay still, her hand with the vials clutched tight to her chest, as her hearing and eyesight slowly returned. Her legs were tangled with Rain's and she was thankful when she felt the other woman move. When Rain moved off her, the first thing Alice felt was heat. Struggling to her knees, Alice blinked into the smoke and watched a wall of flame roil across the ceiling above her.

Anything flammable in the room was already on fire and every bit of glass in the wall of windows was smashed allowing oxygen in to feed the fire.

"Rain…" Alice began pawing around in the debris around her searching for the syringe she thought she had grabbed along with the vials. "I need you to inject me with this…" her hand closed over the syringe and she turned to Rain.

"What? We gotta get outta here, Alice. The room's on fire if you haven't noticed!"

Rain dragged Alice to her feet and over to the wall with its shattered windows. With her elbows she cleared away any glass shards before pushing Alice through. Once on the other side herself, Rain pulled Alice farther away from the burning room.

A siren was now wailing making conversation nearly impossible. As Alice separated the one vial she wanted and shoved the others in the pocket of her greens, there was another explosion from inside the hospital room.

With weak hands, Alice drew a syringe full of the pink liquid and jammed the needle into her thigh.

"Alice! What the fuck?"

Alice closed her eyes resting her back against the corridor wall. Her senses contracted down to almost nothing as the powerful stimulant hit her. After a few more heartbeats she felt her body strength as if she were pulling in pure energy from all around her. Her mind instantly cleared and all her senses sharpened.

_Nice…_

Standing, Alice reached down and grabbed Rain by her webbing. Without little effort, she yanked the smaller woman to her feet. Rain's eyes were huge with surprise when Alice said directly into her face, "Which way out?"

Rain pointed down the main corridor, "This way."

They had just turned to run when the screeching siren stopped and the lights went out.

_Rain was sitting on the back step, the light of a three quarter moon sitting low on the horizon the only illumination, when she heard the screen door open behind her. _

_Tory sat close beside her, took the empty beer bottle from her hand and gave her a full one. For a few moments the siblings drank in silence. _

"_It was a good fight," Tory looked out over the back lawn and into the cornfield stirring in the summer night breeze. _

"_Which one," Rain looked at her brother, "Gina and Cyborg, or me and Perry?" _

"_Both!" Tory put his arm over Rain's shoulders and touched his head to hers. _

"_Gina got the shit beat outta her and I shouldn't have hurt Perry, ass or otherwise."_

_Rain just leaned against Tory feeling the simple comfort her brother being close gave her. Neither spoke for a long time. _

"_I'm not sure I can do it, Tory," Rain finally said softly._

"_Do what?"_

"_Be a bad-ass Special Ops agent," Rain took a long pull on her beer._

"_Why, Rain? That's what you always wanted to do!" Tory responded incredulous at his sister's admission. _

_Rain huffed. "I'm not sure I like hurting people so much. This thing with Perry and what happened to Courtney…" Rain trailed off her mind trying to make sense of what she was feeling. "After Courtney died, for a while all I could think about was beating the living shit out of those girls. It made me feel good to think that, but now after last night and Perry, I'm not sure all I want to be known for is being violent." _

"_That was different with those girls, and you know it," Tory said his voice strong. "They never got what they deserved whether it was a beatin' or something else. I just hope they feel the guilt they should feel whether that happens today, tomorrow or when they're on their way to meet Our Lord Jesus Christ in the afterlife!" Tory's voice took on the lilt of a TV evangelist as he finished the sentence._

_Rain laughed softly and ruffled his hair. _

"_Besides," Tory began again. "You're not in Special Ops just to hurt people. I'm sure you'll get to rescue some dumbasses that get themselves in shit once and a while too," he ruffled her hair in return. "That's what you'd really like, being the hero and all. And anyway, if that doesn't work out, I can so see you in the cage puttin' some girl down and totally wailing on her."_

_Rain sighed. "I dunno, Tory. I think I can fight but beatin' on a girl until she's unconscious. I'm not sure I want to be like that."_

_Tory tilted his head as he looked at his sister. "Like hell you couldn't! First off she's your opponent and she got in the cage wanting to do just that to you! She'd know what she was getting into and so do you whether it's fighting or being in Special Ops. You'll know what to do when you need to. Don't be going soft on me. That's not you."_

_Rain sighed again._

"_You'll know the difference, girl, I know you will," Tory hugged Rain hard. "Unless of course it's Gina, then you'd be in the cage with her not knowing if you wanna beat on her or get it on with her!"_

_Rain grabbed Tory around the waist but he wiggled away and scampered out into the yard. _

"_And you'd be there watching either way!" _

_Rain followed him taking a few swings at Tory. _

"_Let's go for a drive! Go up the mountain! The road's probably good and muddy! We'll take Perry's truck, not like he can drive!" Tory drained the last of his beer and tossed the bottle away._

"_Dude! I'm half ways drunk, I can't drive!"_

"_I'll drive," Tory headed back toward the house, "you get some more beers. I know where Perry keeps his keys."_

_Laughing Rain followed her brother._

The light from the fire behind them was enough for Rain to find her flashlight and hand it, her .45 and a couple spare mags to Alice. Swinging the MP5 around she snapped on the flashlight attached to the underside of the barrel.

"Are you sure you know which way to go?" Alice checked the handgun.

"I'm sure. Are you sure you're really Alice? One minute you're falling on the floor the next…"

Rain didn't have time to finish. There were three sharp blasts of the siren and a voice similar to the Red Queen from the Hive began speaking.

"Security override protocol has been engaged. Please evacuate immediately."

There was a sound like the drop of a hammer and all the doors in the corridor began to slide open.

For a long moment there was no sound except the pop and snap of the fire behind them until a distant sound like the moaning of many voices became audible and quickly got louder.

"Shit!" Alice whipped her head around just in time to face the body that came hurtling out of the smoky corridor behind her. The undead hit her hard driving her into the wall. The flashlight and pistol were knocked from her hands. Holding what was once a burly man at arm's length away from her body, Alice fumbled in her pocket coming up with the syringe. Pulling the needle cap off with her teeth she drove the 2 inch needle into the undead's eye. When the zombie barely reacted Alice used the heel of her hand to drive the entire syringe into the creature's brain.

"Get down!"

Alice hardly had any time to register the undead body falling away from her when Rain's shout made her hit the floor.

A hail of 9mm rounds flew over her head. Turning enough to see behind her, Alice watched as bodies materialized out of the smoke and gloom only to be cut down by Rain's shots.

When Rain's magazine ran out Alice got to her feet. She had only taken a few steps toward Rain when she was grabbed from the side. Before she knew what was happening, Alice saw the undead go rigid as a knife buried itself in the thing's ear.

Gripping the knife, Alice twisted the blade as the undead fell away from her. Taking the knife and wiping it clean, Alice approached Rain.

"I think you dropped something."

Rain laughed as jammed the knife back in its scabbard.

"Let's go."

Water was streaming down the stairs when Rain and Alice reached the middle level. Rain looked over the edge in time to be splashed by scrabbling feet. One of the Umbrella guards she had encountered earlier dropped to the floor just in front of her an undead feasting on his throat.

Rain drew her .357, and reaching out to arm's length, pressed the barrel to the undead's temple. The big handgun boomed when she pulled the trigger. Alice bounded up the stairs ahead of her firing several shots down the corridor at the second guard.

Rain joined her in the corridor blinking water from the gushing overhead sprinklers out of her eyes as she went to the body of the guard. With quick hands she unlaced the guard's boots, pulled them off and tossed them to Alice.

"Your feet are bleeding and the going gets rougher."

Alice looked down at the red stained water around her feet and began ripping strips off her already torn hospital pants. Wrapping the fabric around her feet she then pushed them into the boots.

"Better?"

"Yeah," Rain shot a look over her shoulder as she took a couple magazines off the dead guard. "They're coming and these Umbrella mutations are a lot faster."

Rain and Alice started up the corridor moving as fast as they could in the ankle deep water. As they approached what Rain thought was the connecting corridor to the old part of the mine, the lights were out and, through the water from the sprinklers, Rain thought she saw movement.

"Is there another way?" Alice splashed to a stop beside Rain.

Rain pulled the blueprints from her vest but they proved impossible to read under the sprinklers. Tossing them aside she moved determinedly ahead.

"It's not far, Alice. Just watch your shots there's…"

Alice was already firing ahead of them and Rain knew the shots that were not hitting the shadowy undead were probably impacting the glass wall of the experimentation tank. Shining her light ahead of them Rain saw the reflection of the wall pocked by several holes leaking streams of water. Alice was ahead of her going hand to hand with several undead.

As Rain shouted at her to come back, there was a heavy thump against the tank wall.

"Alice, get back here now!"

A second thump sent shooting cracks all through the glass. Alice dispatched a last undead with a high kick that snapped its neck. As she turned toward Rain's call the tank wall gave way.

Water poured into the corridor like a mini tsunami sweeping Alice off her feet. Before she could be washed away, Rain braced her back against the wall of the side hall and reached out to grasp Alice's flailing arm.

The water pouring down the main corridor and into the alcove where the door to the mine was located was already up to Alice's waist when she regained her feet. Rain dropped Alice's hand and moved ahead to the door. She had begun to push it open when Alice felt something brush past her legs.

Long, thin arms that ended in strange sucker padded hands reached up from the water to grab at Rain's back. A shout died in Alice's throat as Rain was pulled backward under the water. There was a swirling of movement ahead of her as Alice moved forward reaching with her arms and feeling with her legs.

Before she could find Rain, the other woman rose up out of the water her arm arching behind her as she swung her knife at the mutant clinging to her waist. Alice aimed her pistol but was unable to get a clear shot. She hardly needed to as the blows from Rain's knife were making short work of the creature.

With a last thrust between the creature's big red eyes, Rain pushed it off her. The body was pulled away from her and sucked out the half open door. Alice pushed forward shoving Rain toward the door. Once through the two of them began pushing the door shut against the flow of water.

At first Rain thought the sucker fingered hand coming through the door belonged to the mutant she had just killed. That was until the hand turned and stuck itself on the inside of the door.

Bracing herself against the nearly shut door, Rain raised her leg and threw several knees into the sucker hand. After flailing at her leg a couple times, the hand withdrew.

Together Alice and Rain pushed the door fully shut. Fumbling under the door's handle Alice let out a grunt of frustration. "Stupid Umbrella; it doesn't lock!"

"C'mon," Rain pulled her away as there was a heavy blow against the door, "that's not gonna hold sucker-paw for long and there'll be more of them."

The water was receding away down the sloping mine tunnel taking with it some of the equipment Rain had encountered earlier. When they made it out into the old tunnel, Rain's shin knocked against a heavy plastic box. Looking down at it, her eyes widened.

_Damn! I know just what to do, you're right Tory._

"Which way?" Alice was pulling on Rain's elbow.

Rain scooped up the box.

"Go to the right and up to the end of the tunnel."

Alice moved ahead of Rain following the narrow rails with her flashlight. They had gone about halfway when there was a bang behind them and faint figures moved into the tunnel. One of the mutant forms detached from the others and began crawling along the wall.

When they reached the top of the tunnel, Rain dropped the box and pulled the ore cart back onto the rails. "Help me with these rocks!" She ordered Alice as she began loading boulders and other debris into the cart.

"Rain? What?" Alice panned her flashlight back down the tunnel. The beam found a ghostly army of moving mutants that made her blood run cold. Ignoring the oncoming horde, Alice clamped the flashlight between her teeth and heaved several big rocks into the cart.

Once the cart was almost full Rain placed the box on top of the rocks and gave the cart a push. As the cart started away down the shaft, Alice took note of the explosives symbol on the side of the plastic crate.

"Rain…" Alice started her voice unsure.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," Rain raised the MP5 to her shoulder and, following the beam of the flashlight, tracked the cart her eye sighted steady on the explosive box.

Alice found herself thinking back to the dud grenade as she unconsciously crossed her fingers.

Rain's first shot ricocheted off the cart and took one of the undead in the head. The creature dropped and others crawled over it. The second shot hit the box knocking it back and almost out of sight.

_I can do this…_

Rain breathed slowly out as she squeezed trigger. The undead now surrounded the stalled cart.

There was a flash as Rain's shot hit the explosives box. Another second passed and the tunnel erupted. Flames and debris shot up the tunnel as Rain pushed Alice sideways toward where she knew the crevice that led out was. Squeezing in after the other woman Rain grimaced as a fragment of rock struck her exposed leg.

"Fast, Alice, go fast!"

The rocky earth surrounding them was trembling threatening to entomb the two of them. After a few seconds that seemed like hours, Rain felt Alice's hand clutch hers and she let herself be pulled from the crevice. They splashed down into water above their knees as a rumble began the sound quickly surrounding them.

A chunk of the rock ceiling came loose and narrowly missed Rain as it fell. Water and smaller rocks began gushing into the chamber. Rain pushed past Alice and launched herself to the far side. She found the upward leading shaft easily as it was now only a foot or so above the level of the water. Heaving her butt up onto the ledge she turned the MP5 and flashlight back toward Alice.

Alice was almost to Rain when something latched onto her and she was pulled back and down disappearing under the water.

"Damn it!" Rain braced the submachine gun behind her, pulled her knife, and dove.

She hit the two of them under the water the Sucker easy to distinguish by its slimy skin. Rain slammed the knife between its ribs as she felt Alice cranking on its neck. The two women surfaced together as the little cave vibrated again. Behind them the crevice opened wider as rock and undead spilled out of it.

"Follow me close," Rain shouted.

Alice pushed the body of the Sucker at the undead as she swam after Rain. The beam of the MP5 was now underwater. Rain took a deep breath before jamming herself into the shaft. She looped the strap of the MP5 over her body the weapon on her back. She felt Alice's hands touching her legs as she crawled upward.

Nearly out of air, her lungs straining, Rain's head broke from the roiling water. Another few feet and she pulled herself up into the smaller cave. Alice was still fast on her heels as Rain began climbing the rope ladder toward a faint glow above her.

The rope was rough on her hands as she pulled herself up. Within arm's reach of the top, she heard Alice grunt and felt her grab hard onto her calf. Immediately, Rain's weight more than doubled. The old rope cut into her hands and forearms as she was dragged down.

"Alice! Ease up! You're pulling me down!"

Alice grunted again not letting go. Turning her head, Rain saw pale hands grabbing at Alice's legs and feet in the beam of light from the MP5. Alice grabbed at the weapon on Rain's back as Rain braced herself against the tunnel walls.

"Move it Rain, they're on me!"

Rain pushed off with her feet and gripped the rope ladder higher up. The gun strap straining around her neck and shoulder, Rain got one hand over the edge of the opening.

With a sharp _pop_, the metal loop of the strap gave and Alice slipped down her body her momentum halted as she grabbed Rain's webbing belt. Rain kept moving up dragging Alice and God knew what with her. When her waist was out of the hole, she felt Alice's grip move to the rope ladder.

Without the weight on her, Rain reached out for the old chain pulling it taut as she got the rest of her body above ground. Turning quickly, Rain twisted her right leg in the chain and leaned back over the opening.

She could see the top of Alice's head as the other woman kicked down at the hands still grabbing at her legs. As Rain watched the rope ladder began to unravel where it chaffed against a rock on the side of the shaft. Just as the one side gave way, Rain plunged her upper body down into the hole and grasped Alice's forearm.

The rope ladder gave out and would've taken Alice with it if not for Rain's grip on her. Alice looked up as she felt her weight taken up by Rain's arm.

"Climb up me!"

Rain felt the strain on her leg that was twisted in the chain increase as one of the undead hands got a grasp on Alice's shirt. Pulling backward, Rain felt Alice's hand slip in the blood and sweat on her forearm. With a grunt and a superhuman effort, Alice grabbed at Rain's shoulder. Somehow she was able to catch her hand in Rain's webbing.

Her ribs against the edge of the hole were screaming with pain as Rain pulled back again.

"Let me go Rain," Alice said softly, "you can't hang on."

"Don't tell me what I can't do!" Rain's words were separated by grunts as she reached the end of her endurance. She could move no further.

Alice hung on to Rain's shoulder the other woman's hand on her elbow as she continued to kick at the mutants below her.

"Let go, Rain, please," Alice loosened her grip on Rain.

"No, Alice!" Rain tightened her hold on Alice's arm.

As she felt her arm would be pulled from its socket Rain heard distinct words as if her mother was right behind her.

"_You are a passionate, strong girl. Right now all you feel is the passion not the strength. But God grant you grace, you will soon know your own strength."_

Renewed strength came into Rain's body and she twisted so her free hand could grab at the .357 in the shoulder holster that was grinding into her chest. Her first grab missed. Twisting again, Rain pulled the handgun from its holster and extended her arm down into the shaft.

A pale face, teeth exposed, was poised to bite down into Alice's backside when Rain fired the first shot.

The creature fell away and Rain felt some of the weight slacken.

"Climb Alice, damn you, I'm not letting go!"

Alice pulled herself up over Rain's shoulder as Rain continued to fire shots down at the snarling faces and grasping hands. When the gun was empty, she tossed it over the edge of the hole and concentrated on pulling Alice the rest of the way out.

Once Alice was out, Rain rolled to the side coming nose to nose with the two spare grenades.

"Hell, yeah!"

Taking both of them in one hand she moved back so she was a few feet from the opening in the rocks.

"Fire in the hole!" Rain pulled the pins from both grenades, dropped them in the hole, and rolled away again.

**A few minutes later…**

Alice wiggled her feet out of her shredded boots and ran her hands down her calves. A few yards away to her left the collapsed hole still smoked. Ahead of her to the east the sun was just cresting the horizon the rocks all around becoming stained orange and red. Rain lay flat on her back close by drawing deep refreshing breaths of the cool air.

For a long time Alice said nothing just stared at the sun. Her mind was uneasy. Something was making its way into her consciousness; something she had to know.

"How could you know that one grenade, of what four, was a dud?"

Rain turned her head slowly and looked at Alice above her.

"I didn't know. I just had faith that of the two that I had that one would be a dud. And I hoped that doctor evil what's-his-face would be in too big of a hurry to get outta there to care."

"A fifty-fifty chance of blowing us up," Alice smiled ironically. "I suppose I'll take those odds." Alice looked away for a moment. "I told you once I envy you your faith, and I do. Even more I appreciate your ability to believe in something – anything – in all of this." She gestured vaguely taking in the destroyed entrance into Umbrella's private hell on earth.

Rain touched her chest where her shirt was torn. Alice watched her trace a bloody finger over the tattoo of the angel on the moon.

"I have to, Alice. If I didn't, things like Courtney, and now you, would mean nothing."

"I don't know if God got us out of there or just your strength of will, Rain." Alice leaned down to kiss the other woman.

"Even if you don't want to believe, I do."

Rain pulled herself to her feet and reached a hand down to Alice.

"God gave me you, didn't she?"

Alice laughed as let Rain pull her up.

The playlist: Better Off – Jennifer Knapp, Loser Like Me – Glee Season Two, Don't You Wanna Stay – Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson, Coming Home – Diddy, Dirty Money and Skylar Grey, The Only Exception – Paramore, Set Fire to the Rain – Adele, If I Die Young – The Band Perry, Without You – Keith Urban, Born This Way – Lady Gaga, God Gave Me You – Blake Shelton / Dave Barnes

The song implied by Rain's tattoo is Angels on the Moon by Thriving Ivory.

A/N: I'm not a religious person. I wrote this as a way of trying to understand those who are. Whether you believe or don't believe, are gay or not gay, I hope you got something out of this even if it was just a fun ride. As always, I thank you for all the reviews, faves and alerts. This story is on its way to having the most alerts and maybe the most favourites of my fanfics. You make it worthwhile, as always, Alice…


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